Abyss's Review:
Spain has never been a hotbed of activity in the metal arena, at least not as far as I've heard. I've oft thought this strange, however, I mean a culture that doesn't seem to mind getting impaled on the horns of bulls must be full of a bunch of sick fuckers. This brings me to the piece I have before me, Cromwell's Advent of End. Formed in 1991 as a predominantly thrash band, Cromwell, in the years since have undergone many line-up changes. Consisting now of original members Jose Manuel Prada (Bass) and Jose Luis Huerga (Guitar), as well as Mario Vico (Drums), Cromwell offer us Advent of End, a death metal platter consisting of seven tracks. First off, this band seems rather proficient at their respective instruments, and while much of the material isn't the most complex out there, any problems they encounter don't seem to be for lack of playing experience. In fact, the biggest thing that detracts from full enjoyment of this band may be financial. The bio sees this band going in the death/technical direction, and I can see where they are trying to do that, but the engineering on this disc really limits how technical these songs can be. Now I realize that most bands don't have the spare cash to throw around a recording studio, but Cromwell seem to limit themselves by having the same effects on every song. The mix isn't perfect, but isn't bad either (when in doubt, always turn the guitars up), and I think this band would benefit greatly from just playing around with their processors a little. Of course, the most important part of reviewing a band's demo is the quality of songwriting (in my opinion) and Cromwell has plusses and minuses in that respect. To their merit, at times they hit a riff just right, and the song becomes a real pleasant experience. "The Shinning" (that's how it's spelled on the disc, don't know if it's right and they're huge Simpson's fans or what) is probably my favorite on the disc. Good straightforward death, with enough of a groove to keep your head on a hinge. Now this song stands out among the rest, not because it is much different from the others, but because it takes all the good ideas that are scattered on the rest of the disc, and puts them together nicely. This isn't to say that the other songs suck, actually they're all pretty damn good, but are flawed in other ways. Unfortunately many of them sound the same (this would be helped greatly by the aforementioned mixing up of sounds production wise) and often stick to the same formula, in other instances a good riff becomes too diluted due to overuse. And in other cases, certain melodies seem added to songs to give them a "technical" feel rather than for the fact that they truly complement the song as a whole. If this all sounds harsh, it's not meant to be. Just constructive criticism that I think could turn Cromwell from a good band that a lot of labels may pass over, to a band that could definitely make an impact. They have the ingredients, they just need to fiddle with the recipe a little bit more.
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