When the second wave of Death Metal arose at the end of the 90s, from the depths of the underground, many bands left their mark on the genre. Some of them are truly monumental influences for new bands. In the case of the Lithuanian band CRYPTS OF DESPAIR, you'll feel the strength of the Old School Death Metal on their first album, "The Stench of the Earth".

Their main efforts are to create an aggressive and brutal form of Death Metal influenced by Swedish Death Metal, by names like old ENTOMBED and DISMEMBER, when those bands were specialized on destroying necks and turning ears deaf with their destructive music. The quartet has personality, you can feel it when they play fast or slow tempos, but some improvements must be done, because they aren't using their full creative potential.

The production of the album was focused on building a massive, brutal and raw sound quality. It doesn't mean that the listener can't understand what they are playing, but the things were set up to sound as aggressive and Old School as the band need. Even the artwork of the cover shows this Old School insight of the band.

As I wrote above, they still have a way to go. But songs as the biter "Path to Vengeance" and its slow tempos (a fine work from bass guitar and drums can be heard here), the violent and fast "Pits of Endless Torment", the catchy raw energy of "Fleshless Eternity", the biter and shocking aggressiveness of the guitar riffs shown on "Enslaved in Blasphemy", the very good slow parts of "Ravage the Earth", and the brutal grasp imposed by "Dead Light" show that the quartet has a great potential. For now, "The Stench of the Earth" is a good album, and deserves a careful listening for all Death Metal maniacs.