Screaming through the grey mud and nuclear heat of our post-apocalyptic writhing Bristol, England-based death metal trio Cryptworm have found a fresh enough point of volatile zombified scourge here on their largely iterative second full-length album. ‘Oozing Radioactive Vomition‘ bellows up from its bog-grave in irregularly set flow-state as its crooked and cruel state of mind bounds, swings, and hammers upon its core persistence as if possessed by one simple primal urge, bashing and killing in a crude yet well articulated fashion. Though it is far from the most original work in this old-grinding, new death field they’ve done well to elevate the listening experience to an engaging and attitude pumped event upon arrival.

Cryptworm formed circa 2014 as Hungarian musician Tibor Hanyi (Rothadás, Coffinborn, et al.) relocated to England and teamed up with then-drummer Joe Knight (Pale Mist) eventually working their way up the chain with primitive, filth-assed ‘old school’ death metal inspiration (Asphyx, Abhorrence, etc.) in mind for their first few small releases. It’d been their second EP (‘Reeking Gunk of Abhorrence‘, 2019) which’d first caught the most attention for its bounding mid-paced gait and Demilichian weirding. They weren’t quite there yet for my own taste upon review but I’d been very impressed by the eventual debut LP from the band (‘Spewing Mephitic Putridity‘) circa 2022 which’d served as the peak of the original duo’s efforts. Per my comments at the time: “this could be more cryptically writ or convoluted by more notes or atmosphere but there is something too damned satisfying about the naked punchiness of this record and its blend of brutal socked-out groove and writhing riffcraft.” The duo had stood out because they were raw but practiced, capable but violent and less than fastidious to the point that the energy of their work hit that garage-death level of thrill (see: Anthropophagous, Sněť) without sounding entirely hollowed out. It was well-received based on the buzz it’d gotten that summer and this’d necessitated an expansion into a full line-up wherein members of underrated death/thrash metal crew Seprevation joined with Jamie Wintle taking the throne and Joss Farrington (Cryptic Shift) on bass. This has more-or-less tightened an already pretty seamless rhythm section in terms of performance while iterating upon the successes of the prior release.

Most of what we can observe here on ‘Oozing Radioactive Vomition‘ is a tweaking of fidelity, a different depth of space rendered, and actions which are increasingly brutal and ragged in voice but still well in line with what groups like Undergang and Cerebral Rot have been doing these last several years. The first nodule of inspiration most ‘old school’ educated folks will pick up on is the late 80’s Carcass inspired side of Finnish death metal, a Demilich feeling result stripped down to the core kinetic values of their grooves which finding their own guttural, worm-faced gorge per the vocals. Whereas the previous album felt raw and nuclear waste-tipped in its crispier guitar tone this album in habits a growling centralized space, all units facing inward and presenting disgusted rant n’ groove death metal up front. Diving right into the title track/opener there is no real fanfare, just messy mid-90’s brutal deathgrind vocal exaggerations and turn-on-a-silver-dollar riffs lending a wider berth to their movements while still presenting a precision attack. This first piece goes just far enough over the top with its menacing vocal performance that it becomes easy to overlook some of the very typical, repetitive moshable riffs which are inserted for the sake of both transition and spectacle.

My ears’d perked up a bit more when “Organ Snatcher” hit where those worming, weirding riffs copped right outta ’92 are surrounded and encased in a brutal yet restless pulse which throws in a thrash-level groove as its verses are introduced and develop towards the mid-point, making a bit more sense next to the simpler syncopated runs adjacent. Eye-crossing, sweaty gutturals and a dodge into a slower and muddier push give the song some eventful action beyond that mid-point and as this song continues to gurgle on Cryptworm once again kinda win me over by sheer conviction even if I think they could push the envelope with leads and embellishment more often. For a six song, ~35 minute death metal record each piece has to count and Side A kinda closes with the far less interesting/involved whiff of “Miasmatic Foetid Odour” wherein the wandering nature of the album and its simpler grooves find a simple syncopated groove and build creeping deathgrind theatre around it. If it’d been a three minute mid-album burner rather than a five minute obstruction the album might’ve flowed a bit better its first time through. Again, most of these smaller gripes can be found on my prior reviews of their earlier works though after the debut LP my thoughts took stock of how the sum of the riffs add up, even when a few of ’em are plain n’ ignorant as possible. As we hop sides, “Necrophagous” hits the ratio a bit better growling and slapping enough to ebb away the flop of their slower mosh metal riffing. Hitting the crest of 90’s groove inspired grinding death and less the sleepy chug of rap rock beats and metalcore-era bonk riffs.

For the devout ‘old school’ death metal fandom all of this should rightfully rule at a glance, I think pieces like “Engulfed by Gurgling” and “Organ Snatcher” will hit for their energetic kicks right off the bat and this is enough to make ‘Oozing Radioactive Vomition‘ a thrilling full listen at face value per its rotten-lung’d performances and attack of familiar yet event-appropriate riffcraft. Even if there is no real step up in the compositional/songcraft department beyond their last release to be found here a well-improved aesthetic and some extra performative unction leave the eye-stinging aftertaste of a better overall experience, not a substantially different album if we really pick it down to the bones but a version of Cryptworm that is feeling itself more and getting weirder without losing the plot. The only real criticism that’d nagged me throughout my time with the album was basically less chug, more leads. A high recommendation.

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