Crematory

Awake

(c)1997 Nuclear Blast

(p)1997 Edmion Drakkar

Review by Kevin Trout

Occasionally an album comes along which tears at the very fabric of the well established genres; what we have come to know is torn by Crematory's "Awake". In one of the strangest twists in recent memory, death metal and pop music have been combined, and lo and behold a new genre exists: death-pop.

How is this possible, you ask? Quite simple really. Crematory has taken the traditional death metal growl and combined it with the airy keyboard melodies and tales of lost love so prevalent in pop music. At times this comes off as sounding somewhat forced, but in many instances creates an enjoyable listening experience.

With a very dark synth overtone, opening track "Maze" creates somewhat of a false impression. This is the exception rather than the rule with the extensive synth component, which is mostly repetitious and irritatingly cheery melodies. More often than not, the keyboard component is what defines the sound of Crematory -- even when a powerful riff or brooding guitar melody is present.

Despite the negatives, Cremtory does manage to produce some memorable songs. Much of this album is very catchy, music that is easy to sing (or growl) along with. Vocally this is a combination of the afforementioned growling and cleanly sung vocals, which are often combined in the choruses for an effective mix of brutality and despair.

In the end this is an album caught between genres, brilliantly dark in places, yet often overcome by sugary pop influences along the way. It is difficult to get excited by much of the tired, overdone and often imitated material which is present in today's music scene, but some things were likely not meant to be. The death-pop hybrid created by Crematory may be one such example.

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