CRAWL is a death metal/crust band from Sweden who formed in 2014. Their latest album, “Altar Of Disgust,” is their second full-length. This is my first exposure to CRAWL’s music but I won’t be missing out anymore—within seconds, I knew this album was badass. As one might imagine, their crust influence gives the album a raw, DIY atmosphere that is propelled by boundless energy. Color inside these lines is equally raw and powerful death metal, resulting in an album that is the soundtrack of a vegetable grater being ran across your stupid face.

The album’s length is a super brisk and tight 30 minutes spread across eleven songs. Each moment of this album is somehow more intense than the one before it—like a raging fire, these eleven monstrosities disguised as songs immolate everything in their path. Joachim’s vocals are insanity incarnate and just as abrasive as the music—he is the perfect spearhead to batter this band into the very cracks of your skin. His primal “blegh!” kicks off the album after a few seconds of feedback on the first song “Undead Crypts,” and the album never lets up from there. Martin and Ragna’s riffs are never-ending torment, a downpour of acidic riffs that send drops of burning metallic notes into the fabric of the songs. Somehow, drummer Ämir is able to keep up with them, proving he is just as beastly as the music that he helps birth.

The band is at their best, such as around the two minute mark of “Undead Crypts,” when they jam on death metal riffs then segue back into their crusty assault. No sooner does that song that “Throne Of Molten Bones,” begins. Somehow the band goes harder, faster, and even more abrasive. They slow down the tempo slightly throughout the song but it does nothing to abate their sound—if anything, it makes them sound even more evil. The only true respite in this album is “Where No Light Escapes” but even that one is made of deep, snarling bass guitar and disturbing tones. The band picks it back up with the searing “Enslaved In Filth” which flies by so intensely, so focused in its rage that it seems like a fever dream. The last 44 seconds are especially intense, the riffs just cresting against the foundation in an unstoppable march of damnation.

The last two tracks are among my favorites: “Into Sordid Rifts,” and “Buried Lust.” “Into..” lets the drums ring true before the buzz saw guitars cut the atmosphere in half. The vocals are painful and the gut wrenching performance made my own throat hurt and I wasn’t even trying to “sing” along. The sudden bursts of speed are akin to being punched in the side of the head by Godzilla (I assume) and there wasn’t much left of my senses after it ended. The drop near the end after a harrowing shriek as the riffs pile up is astonishing. “Buried Lust,” is a great example of the album’s overall sound and if someone ever asked me what death crust sounds like, I’d play this song while beating them with a bag of oranges.

All in all, this is a hugely urgent album that does a lot in a small amount of time—every second drips with absolute venom. If you like death metal or any music with a lot of energy and an attitude that is 100% against the grain, CRAWL’s “Altar Of Disgust” is the album you need.