Hello fellow people of reason! We of course are completely logical and cannot possibly believe the nonsense that is the Lovecraft-ian mythos. What with all the ancient slumbering gods, entities from other realities, and the cryptic threats, pish-posh I say! We all know that these are scientific times of the utter most amounts of evidence and fact! Yes, we will not dwell upon the subject matter of this week's review, one "Cosmic Reawakening" by CRAFTEON, we will instead choose to analyze this for its aesthetic appeal. There is the album cover which greets the observer. It is an absurd depiction of high fantasy, a monstrous creature emerging from the oceanic depths. It is quite clearly the result of an overactive imagination. However, it is good art. Not only that, the entire lyric booklet is filled with several comic-book style pictures foreshadowing the grim tales that fill the album. Immediately I was intrigued to see what such vivid imagery could produce in an auditory capacity.

A brief windy intro leads us into the howling descent to madness. This is cavernous, ominous darkness in music form. This is distilled evil channeled through soundwaves to overwhelm the listener with endless dread. It's definitely Black Metal alright. Your entire musical cult regulars are here: the ethereal screeches, the quick-picking riffs, the steady war-march style drumming, and welcome fire support from a thundering bass. Each track is a creeping-crawling threat that lurches closer with every slimy note. This is all good and well for what amounts to music based on absolute drivel.

No one could EVER take the idea that ancient slumbering beings of unrivalled power secretly slumber beneath the ocean waves, just waiting... waiting for their time to once again rise up and destroy the filth that is the despicable human race. Humans... a repugnant simpleton breed of simian origin, their very existence is a blasphemy upon reality. Their age fittingly will come to an end when the GREAT ONES awake and deem it so. Or that's what I would say if I was to believe the poppycock about these ancient gods. Pfff.

Now on a song by song basis, I would have to say the last track on the album is fittingly the champ on the song roster. "The Whisperer In The Darkness" is not only music to sacrifice your tribute to the Deep Ones to; it features some mind melting guitar work as well. It's a great closing track to what is otherwise a rocking traipse through nightmarish madness. The song "The Temple" is another standout; it has some excellent low-y parts where the music becomes a little more foreboding than just a straight onslaught. "The White Ship" is a hair-raising, almost ghastly shanty that features a sort of breakdown with some chunky bass and a more melancholic tone (and not a mental breakdown like you thought and people keep accusing me of. Oh sure I haven't slept in days since I first heard this album but that's not due to any kind of malign influence or anything. That would be madness, absolute and total madness. You'd have to be totally a crazy person who set fire to his abode while his loving family of six slept inside and that's not the kind of madness I am, oh no siree bob! Five people maybe, but not six. Five is how many you need to align with the points of the star; the stars are where they come from...)

Overall I would say that if you're going to invest your time and hard earned green bucks on a musical release, this would definitely be a solid selection. If you are at all interested in Lovecraft-inspired Metal, if you are into Black Metal in general, if you enjoy hearing music that is so good you immediately tear all your hair out and roll around on the floor foaming at the mouth as ancient entities fill your head with forbidden secrets, then this is the release for you.

Now here are some bands that this reminded me of, as per our contractual obligation (Also our contract dictates that you send me bags full of money now): HAKUJA, BROWN JENKINS, GORGOROTH, ABGOTT, EMPEROR, BATHORY, the eternal wailing of stolen sanity, BAL-SAGOTH, YOG-SOTHOTH MANKIND SHALL PERISH ONCE THEY AWAKE AGUS-LEAT SA!! DIA AAHHH... UNGL... CHCH...