Band:	Craft
Album:	Void
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	August 2011

01. Intro (John's Nightmare)
02. Serpent Soul
03. Come Resonance Of Doom
04. The Ground Surrenders
05. Succumb To Sin
06. Leaving The Corporal Shade
07. I Want To Commit Murder
08. Bring On The Clouds
09. Void

Not every human being raises its arms in applause in front of a nuclear explosion, if they manage to survive of course, but that's another part of the story. Total Soul Rape and Terror Propaganda were two decent albums of that kind of black metal that breathes hate from toe to head, but I really adored Craft with Fuck The Universe, a chaos-worshipping album from the very first impression on its cover and title to the lyrics and the music itself. It certainly possessed a clinical anti-everything vibe and a more structured dominance that made me have high expectations on their latest effort after 6 years of silence. And what an ideal title successor to Fuck The Universe, Void! That's what happens after you've fucked the entire universe, nada, rien.

So, was it worth waiting? Of course it was, it's Craft we're talking about and if you intend to listen to some good old traditional black metal with a better production (without alienating the more traditional vibe they want to bring forth) then these Swedish terrorists are your cup of radioactive tea. Nine compositions (if you consider as one of them the 20-sec intro) are here to unleash a never-ending storm willing to quench your thirst for dry black metal that's not afraid to groove. There are moments Mikael Nox's arid interpretation feels like Nocturno Culto's youth revival with the necessary echo effect. You will also witness a welcome amount of Darkthrone references here and there, take "Serpent Soul" for example, there are moments I feel like listening to "In The Shadow Of The Horns" through a Satyricon prism; and it's so damn good. Apart from the up-tempo moments, there are enough mid-paced passages leaning towards a malicious lurking environment that expands its territory until the next outburst. The two guitars walk together in perfect harmony, evoking a sense of disharmony from the railway riffing to some groovier passages and from some tight melodies to a more ominous expressing manner. The bass lines blend wonderfully with the guitars and in combination with Dirge Rep's (of Gehenna fame) spot-on drumming the circle is complete.

The album closes the curtain with my personal highlight, the self-titled composition. It simply is a small hymn to corruption with the ambient opening and a vomiting oral gunfire, paving the ground for the mid-tempo threatening guitars and a horrifying interpretation to break into a groovier passage that slowly but steadily speeds up to burst into an addictive hallucination.

Craft don't present something new, after all it's not their purpose. Yet, they know what they're doing, with respect to their references (Darkthrone, Satyricon etc) they fuel their well-preserved machine with ill-natured inspiration elementals so as to keep on breathing in the nuclear smog; trust me, they don't need biohazard suit.

PS.
"I Want To Commit Murder", don't try this at home or anywhere else, except for your stereo.