May all your nights be damned to the sound of the soul-crushing death and doom blasted by UK’s own monolithic metal workhorses in their brand new opus.

There’s nothing better than a badass and absolutely pulverizing fusion of Death, Sludge and Doom Metal to haunt our souls on a Friday the 13^th, don’t you agree? I’m pretty sure not even Jason Voorhees himself is capable of generating such heavy and reverberating sounds like UK’s own monolithic metal workhorses Warcrab, who after three years of silence return with an ever darker and more threatening sonority found in their new full-length opus, entitled Damned In Endless Night, a thunderous display of unbelievable heaviness and groove that will please all fans of the soul-crushing death and doom played by bands like Bolt Thrower, Crowbar and Eyehategod.

Carrying on where they last left in their 2016 release Scars of Aeons with their unique blend of down-tuned Sludge and ponderous Death Metal, Warcrab flesh it out and leave no room for doubt on the efficacy of their powerful and cohesive fusion of underground styles in Damned in Endless Night. Featuring almost the same lineup as from their previous album, with Martyn Grant on vocals (replacing former singer Kane Nelson), Geoff Holmes,  Paul “Budgie” Garbett and Leigh Jones on the guitars, Dave “Guppy” Simmonds on bass, and Rich Parker on drums, the long-awaited full-length from this Plymouth, Devon, England-based band is arguably their best release to date, cementing Warcrab as one of the flagships of the current underground metal scene in their homeland.

Perpetua is a serene intro where the band’s guitar trio warms up our senses for the hammering and bold Halo of Flies, with the sluggish guitars by Geoff, Paul and Leigh dictating the rhythm while Martyn begins vociferating like a demonic entity and Rich pounds his drums slowly and fiercely. In the Arms of Armageddon sounds closer to what the band offered in Scars of Aeons, which means an infernal, low-tuned and grim musicality smashing our heads mercilessly, not to mention the massive wall of sounds created by Dave and Rich in the background, whereas Blood for the Blood God is pure old school Sludge and Doom Metal for your avid ears, with Rich sounding utterly ominous on drums while Martyn basically vomits the song’s lyrics in a brutal and devilish way, therefore being highly recommended for breaking your neck in half headbanging.

Then the creepy guitars by Warcrab’s stringed triumvirate penetrate deep inside our minds in Abyssal Mausoleum, and you better get ready for over eight minutes of damned passages, low-tuned bass lines and endless obscurity, showcasing Geoff on absolute fire with his doomed guitar solos; and  Dave slashes our ears with his distorted bass lines in Magnetic Fields Collapse, a classic display of modern-day Sludge Metal infused with Death Metal-inspired vocals. In other words, simply keep banging your head nonstop and raise your horns to Warcrab until the song’s fulminating grand finale; followed by Kraken Arise (which by the way is also featured in a very interesting 2019 compilation titled Doomed & Stoned in England), a bestial onrush of Sludge Metal by Warcrab spearheaded by Martyn’s enraged roars, with Dave and Rich sounding as thunderous as the music demands with their sonic weapons.

Warcrab Damned in Endless Night Silver-embossed CD Box Set

Dave’s menacing bass lines are embraced by wicked distortions and a somber atmosphere in Unfurling Wings of Damnation, leaning towards classic Doom Metal the likes of Celtic Frost and Black Sabbath, with Geoff, Paul and Leigh extracting minimalist but potent and sharp sounds from their guitars, growing in intensity until it reaches a decimating, rockin’ sonority for our total delectation. Needless to say, Geoff’s solos are insanely heavy and crisp, adding an extra touch of malignancy to the overall result. Swords sounds and feels dark and demonic from start to finish, keeping the album at a truly high level of acidity, rage and madness, with Rich stealing the spotlight with his steady, sluggish beats while Martyn growls and gnarls nonstop. and its lugubrious final moments build an instant connection with the outro Damnati, an instrumental feast of cutting riffs and solos, pounding beats and sheer darkness that puts a climatic ending to such impactful album.

I became a fan of the music by Warcrab in 2016 after listening to Scars of Aeons, but I must admit those guys stepped up their game in terms of aggressiveness, obscurity and intricacy in Damned In Endless Night, on sale from several locations such as the band’s own BandCamp page and the Transcending Obscurity webstore (where you can also find a sensational Damned in Endless Night silver-embossed CD box set, limited to 150 and containing an 8-panel silver digipak CD, an autographed card signed by the band personally, a logo patch, an album artwork badge, a fridge magnet and a 3D sticker), as well as from Apple Music and Amazon. In addition, don’t forget to follow this six-piece infernal horde on Facebook and to bang your head like a maniac to their harsh and ruthless music, and then (only then) may all your nights be endless and damned.

Best moments of the album: Halo of Flies, Blood for the Blood God and Kraken Arise.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2019 Transcending Obscurity Records

Track listing
1. Perpetua (instrumental) 1:59
2. Halo of Flies 5:20
3. In the Arms of Armageddon 5:27
4. Blood for the Blood God 5:49
5. Abyssal Mausoleum 8:25
6. Magnetic Fields Collapse 4:22
7. Kraken Arise 3:35
8. Unfurling Wings of Damnation 7:33
9. Swords 6:18
10. Damnati (instrumental) 3:13

Band members
Martyn Grant – vocals
Geoff Holmes – lead guitar
Paul “Budgie” Garbett – guitar
Leigh Jones – guitar
Dave “Guppy” Simmonds – bass
Rich Parker – drums