From Wolfsburg, Germany comes the ravenous Death/Doom-ensemble CRYPTIC BROOD and their first EP, "Wormhead"; a low-budget, shoddily produced piece of slaughterhouse soundtrack debut EP that's... actually not half bad for what it is.

Before we get into it, let me just set the stage here real clear and shiny: This is a band that was formed 2 years ago, have only a single demo and a split EP with the only slightly better and more experienced GRAVEYARD GHOUL under the belt prior to this, and got a record deal with Xtreem Music just half a year ago as of writing this. If you go in expecting anything, you're doing both yourself and the band a disfavor.

So, with our expectations set entry-level low, let's get into what "Wormhead" has to offer: Like previously mentioned, this is a Death/Doom effort in of the mostly slow-going, heavily down-tuned, butcher's anthemy kind that you've probably heard many times for, and a lot better. At first glance, CRYPTIC BROOD doesn't bring anything new to the table, nor do they excite or liven up anything done before to new heights; they're "just another" Death/Doom band using an existing formula to play music that they enjoy - and that's perfectly alright.

And really, the main killer of this EP is the atypically horrendous production, making the whole thing sound like just a slightly above average demo recording. With better production the songs would actually have been half-enjoyable given their solid core (comes with the territory of following a tried-and-battered formula) and unexpected.. Progressiveness.

Yeah, you heard me right: the thing that makes this EP - not so much stand out, as not become immediately forgettable - is the diversity of the songwriting. These guys have more tempo changes than some (mediocre) Prog bands I know of, and that helped - a lot. And that actually makes me lean towards being positive for the band's future, provided that they can nurture this more Progressive side of them in future releases that aren't glorified demos.

Because in the end, "Wormhead" is nothing special in of itself, and while I can't call it "bad" I also can't really recommend it. But while the EP probably isn't going anywhere special, I see a potential future in which CRYPTIC BROOD - given more experience and for the love of the Metal Gods a better production - could become something. Time will tell, and until then.. do as you will with this one.