Album Review: The Crawling – All Of This For Nothing (Grindscene Records)

All of This for Nothing is the long-awaited third full length album from Northern Ireland’s The Crawling. The death and doom band will release it via Grindscene Records on August 4th, 2023.

It’s been a long wait for The Crawling to emerge from the darkness and reveal what would come next. Well, wait no longer, it’s here and it’s a beast. It might only be seven tracks long, but each is a tome with so many layers of darkness that it will take a long time to fully un-peel them all.

An ominous guitar tone and parading drum beat introduces March of the Worm. The weight of The Crawling’s death and doom sound beginning to push down as it reaches an apex and transforms into a garish monstrosity of heavy noise, led by vocals that sound particularly evil.

The delight felt by music this twisted is quite something and it’s still a shock to the system that The Crawling can be as ‘anthemic’ as they are. Although that word is used loosely, as a track like Another Vulture is liable to frighten those of a more nervous disposition. Especially as it lulls you into a false sense of security with its mellow and chilled moments. Don’t be fooled though, this is still The Crawling as abrasive and heavy as usual.

Washing through the mind in quick fashion, Thy Nazerene is darkly melodic, exceptionally doomy, and with touches of intensity, resulting in a very bleak sounding track. Whereas Bound to the Negative is all about taking the time to immerse the listener into a vat of melancholy. The miserable, but pretty melody at start, giving way to cacophony of doom and death callousness. The instruments, in particular the drums, are so vibrant here. The sudden drops back into melancholic melody work well too, and the heavy tone and tempo switching is simply phenomenal. This is the track you have to hear from this album.

Although it’s not like anyone will be struggling to find quality overall. Already, The Crawling have proved this is the finest and most complete work to date.

Then there is the elaborate riffing and cleaner moments of Leaving the Skin, and the unrelenting hammering that A Light We Cannot See dishes out. The darkness is well and truly wrapping around the mind at this stage, like a suffocating shroud. So, it’s up to Sparrow to ease the listener out and to safety. Except it’s The Crawling at their doomiest sounding, so there’s no other option but to sink even further into the mire of All of This for Nothing.

No complaints though. It’s far too enjoyable an album for that.

The Crawling – All of This for Nothing Track Listing:

1. March of the Worm
2. Another Vulture
3. Thy Nazerene
4. Bound To the Negative
5. Leaving The Skin
6. A Light We Cannot See
7. Sparrow

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