Fifteen years of Creeping Fear celebrated with a third album.
Four years after their last release, Clément (guitar/vocals), Gabriel H. (guitar), Paul (bass), and Hector HellGZ (drums) unveil Realm of The Impaled with the support of their long-time label, Dolorem Records.
The album opens with A Path to Obscurity, a rather disturbing introductory track where a few percussion beats accelerate, followed by sampled screams, leading into Dismembered And Thrown Into Black Flames, the first track where brutality reigns supreme. Although the track starts off at full speed, it doesn’t hesitate to slow down to unleash its heaviness before reigniting to offer a little more complexity while remaining very catchy, but it quickly passes the baton to Demonic Ascent, where darkness and dissonance welcome us. These are of course quickly crushed by powerful riffs and vocals, preferring a moderate tempo and heavy sound at first before letting the drums run wild to fuel jerky passages. The band then follows up with Realm Of The Impaled, which remains in this devastating Old School spectrum where the vocalist goes wild. There are also some piercing harmonics, as well as a sharp solo that fits perfectly with the aggressive atmosphere of the track, just like on Torture Wheel, the next track, which offers a very thick rhythm. Once again, it is in the acceleration that the band shows itself to be at its wildest, but the slow pace also suits it perfectly to develop the abrasive sound before switching to French for Et ils se Couvrirent de Gloire, a vindictive composition that also takes on the role of a war tribute. Fury is of course the order of the day, as Feast of Violence begins with a certain restraint while still being very solid, but the band doesn’t fail to make it even more crushing before giving way to Obscene Sacrifice and its unhealthy leads. Once the introduction is over, the track explodes and tramples us in turn with waves of raw power before moving on to Cursed Endeavor, the last composition, whose atmosphere quickly becomes more suffocating, and which does not hesitate to unleash all its rage thanks to a rhythm that only slows down to become more imposing before the final charge.
Creeping Fear holds French Old School Death Metal’s flag high, drawing inspiration from the entire scene to create straightforward uncompromising riffs. It will come as no surprise if Realm of The Impaled lands at the top of the charts…
95/100