Their parting was a massive loss
Back in the early to mid nineties Cruciform were Australia’s premier death/doom outfit and, as such, commanded respect and admiration. In 1993 their debut EP, Atavism, was the first release for then fledgling Sydney based label Warhead Records. Alas, as is so often the case, a highly promising Australian band fell victim to internal politics and after their follow up release, the Paradox demo, they were no more.
Atavism unsurprisingly begins with an instrumental introduction which builds nicely quite quickly but drags on for far too long. The track runs for three minutes nineteen seconds and could easily have finished in a third of the time. It isn’t awful but it does necessitate hitting the skip button every time it is put on and is the only downside of the EP.
Things then swing into action with the thunderous opening riff of second track, Sanctuary, which nicely lays out the band’s death/doom style and serves as a measure for how the rest of the tracks will sound.
There is almost a primitive simplicity to the way Cruciform writes their music. The core riffs in each song are hardly what could be described as technical, which is why they are so effective. This is an example of classic old school doom whose centrepiece is slow, plodding riffs bereft of the heavily orchestrated accompaniments often seen in modern doom. In fact there are no strings, no female vocals or anything else other than the guitars and the guttural, almost sibilant vocals to create the atmosphere.
As stated, it is the guitars that really shine on Atavism. Aside from the riffs that slowly work their magic, many of the tracks allow guitarists Leon Kelly and Tony Mulhearn to show off some of their skills through some tasteful and quite impressive soloing. In addition, the song Necropolis features a beautiful clean guitar interlude that perhaps would be done with keyboards by more modern bands.
Atavism’s production is good but not great. The vocals tend to suffer the most as they have a tendency to be drowned out in places. This isn’t completely detrimental though as it also serves to lend them an element of mystique. Aside from the issues with the vocals every other instrument comes across quite clearly through a sound that is powerful and full of force.
If I could only name one Australian metal band whose break up took me completely by surprise and saddened me greatly then that band would easily be Cruciform. Atavism and their subsequent Paradox demo release showed a band that could easily have risen to the top of the Australian and international metal scenes but unfortunately fizzled out far too quickly.
I would be very surprised if either of Cruciform’s releases are easy to come by these days, but if Atavism does pop up at a second hand store somewhere I urge you to pick it up.
(Warhead Records)
