Review Summary: mantled with the stench of death.
Outcome Of Obnoxious Science might read like the tail-end an InfoWars headline, but make no mistake, there are no conspiracies about big pharma's stance on the gun rights of GMO soybeans here, just really good throwback death-doom. Indeed, Cryptic Brood's sophomore effort has a lot more to do with hayday Autopsy outings than it does with anything resembling loosely organized discourse about evangelistic lobbyists and anti-vaxxers, despite whatever cheeky interpretation of the album title you might conjure up. Straight off the hop, the music makes itself clear: this is old school death-doom dressed in B-movie slasher flick garb, ketchup blood and weed smoke. Nothing more, nothing less, and it's all the better for it.
One stroll through the opening track's beefy follower, "Harrowing Hallucinations" and you'll have a solid grasp on this German outfit's brand of bleak, mossy and musty musing. A simple and no-nonsense approach to the production value makes a taught yet spacious canvas for the music, leaving lots of room for properly live-in-the-flesh sound. No layered guitars, cheesy synths or shoehorned ambient passages here. Save that tripe for the prog-heads, this is death-doom with goddamn chest hair. To boot, it all comes together in crystal clear form; crisp on good headphones with a thick gristle that oozes out of good hifi systems. It's the best of worlds when throwback sensibilities marry good production values, particularly on Steffen Brandes' tactile kit. His galloping double time rides and stellar dexterity on the toms keep the mid-tempo affairs at attention, and his thoughtful drumming translates over to the bands' manic outbursts with equal effectiveness. Following suite, axe-wielder Michael Lehner keeps things unpretentious yet articulate with stoned riffing that pays proper homage to the sensibilities of the genre's forefathers. Between these two heads, a firm foundation for the 4-stringed vocalist Dennis Butzke is formed. While certainly an apt bassist, preforming said role with poise and posture here, the man's work on the mic is also multifaceted and convincing. His firm command of growls, screams and a dash of everything in between is executed with vigour and variety, doing well at staving off any semblance of monotony while keeping things engaging and visceral. You can hear the trio's dynamism just about everywhere on this LP, but when things gradually collapse into a snail-paced crawl on "Mantled With The Stench Of Death", or when the hellions are unleashed on "Wading Through Remains" and the marvellously restless d-beat jaunt of "Haunted By Nightmarish Visions", you'll really feel the magic.
It's all rather seamless; a point made all the more impressive by ole' Broods' dedication to shifting tempo at a whim. Thanks to markedly enthusiastic songwriting and rock-solid group chemistry, what you get here is a band that packs all the magic that inspired this sound in the early 90's and manifests it with a just feather's touch of modernity. From painting visions of dank swamps and moonlit bogs to fervent hallucinations of acidic dismemberment and plague alike, these Deutsche moshers are a group that's comfortable in their niche, wielding all the finesse and nuance needed to cement them as a retro-leaning staple in the modern death-doom landscape alongside bands like Obliteration and Ataraxy. They do their job and they do it well, and if we're being honest, the only thing that holds
'Obnoxious Science back is the long shadows cast by its forefathers and the pure virtuosity of some more contemporary acts. There's certainly room for improvement, and you won't hear anything out of left field here, but like those lauded slasher flicks that manage to garner cult status, there's something intangibly charming here that boasts oodles of replayability. Some things are timeless, and metal with big balls and sharp teeth is one of those things. Luckily, Cryptic Brood's sophomore effort has more than enough cojón and mandible to land it in the upper echelon of 2019's delectable charcuterie of extreme metal.
