Undead Creep - The Ever-Burning Torch

Undead Creep
The Ever-Burning Torch
Dark Descent Records

There was a time when the old school Swedish death metal sound could only be found from bands that originated solely from Sweden itself. But as the years have rolled on, more and more bands have managed to capture the same vibe and sound of the old school greats, with varying degrees of success.
But one band that has managed to successfully master the old school Swedish sound is Italian (Palermo, Sicily based) outfit Undead Creep.
Formed a mere two years ago (2009), the four piece act (Comprising of vocalist Sandro Casu, guitarist Giorgio, bassist Maso and drummer David) quickly announced their arrival within the underground scene with their five track self-titled demo the same year, which earned the band considerable praise in the press.
Two years on, and the Italians have once again returned with their debut full-length effort ‘The Ever-Burning Torch’ through Dark Descent Records.
From the moment the band launch into the opening track ‘Immolation For Reincarnation’, it’s clear where they draw their influences from. With its blatant buzzsaw-like production on the guitars, the dry drum sounds and the ever-present rumble of bass, there’s no denying that Undead Creep worship acts such as Dismember, Entombed and Asphyx in a major way. In fact, the band manage to mimic the sound so well you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference at times.
There’s plenty of variation on the album throughout, with the dual paced ‘Surrounded By Tombs’, the doom enhanced ‘Eternal Rest’, the d-beat driven ‘Eradicated Memories’ and the thrashier ‘Forbidden Cult’ allowing the listener to retain interest in the album from start to finish.
As an added bonus, ‘The Ever-Burning Torch’ is also bolstered with the inclusion of the band’s original demo tacked on at the end of the album.
While the inclusion of demos to a full-length album does have its pros and cons, the inclusion of Undead Creep’s original recordings here is actually a worthy bonus as all the tracks weren’t re-recorded for the album. The other great thing is that it eliminates the need to track down the bands hard to find demo, with the complete Undead Creep catalogue packaged nicely on the one disc.
Despite a slight dip in song writing towards the tail end of the album, and two instrumental pieces (‘Interlude - On Blackened Mountains’ and ‘Darkest Slumber’) that don’t seem to fit anywhere on the album, ‘The Ever-Burning Torch’ is a worthy tribute to the old school Swedish death metal sound, and should impress those whose tastes in death metal began and finished with the likes of Dismember, Entombed and Asphyx’s early releases.

For more information on Undead Creep, check out - http://www.myspace.com/undeadcreep666

© Justin Donnelly