Band:	Crust
Album:	The Promised End
Style:	Blackened doom metal, Sludge metal
Release date:	March 25, 2019
Guest review by:	Cynic Metalhead

01. Sad Animal
02. Broken Lines Of Destiny
03. Sorrow Wind
04. The Ascension Of Souls
05. Painful Memories
06. Don't Live Swallowed By Illusions
07. Extreme Fatigue

Crust hails from Russia, and plays a powerful and evocative exploration of blackened doom with sludge metal. Their debut album, The Promised End, was a promise that began a suffocating journey through the deepest realms of despair, doom, and anguish. It crafts itself into an unceremoniously belligerent affair that grips you from the very first note it hits, transcending the quality and songwriting of the band's earlier EPs.

The album opens with a traditional flat-handed post-metallic slap in "Sad Animal"; the nihilistic stomp sets the tone with a slow slumbering riff that feels like trudging through waist-deep mud, almost reaching Rorcal territory but with a bit more subtlety. And talking of subtlety, the midway interlude in 'The Ascension Of Souls' mellows things down, becoming a suitable pit-stop before the second half of the album rages on.

The middle portion of the album embraces a minimalistic approach that cuts deep, as heard in "Painful Memories"; 'melodies' push the collective envelope in song composition and structure, while simultaneously
retaining all the energy and intuitional passion found in earlier releases. There's a fascinating change in the mood, almost meditative in the opening passages of "Sorrow Wind" — a quiet build-up defenestrating into an overwhelming wall of sound. The glorious, pummeling bass on penultimate track "Don't Live Swallowed By Illusions" leads a thumping charge before more blackened up-tempo blasts drive us ever onwards. The final offering, ''Extreme Fatigue'', solidifies everything that came before; it oscillates between different tempos and hues of heavy, along with generous amounts of atmosphere. This is an album fully offered to you with everything in the band's artistic repertoire. The production is fuller and slightly more polished than before, but I'd stick my neck out to say Crust produced a magnum opus in The Promised End that nevertheless served as a launchpad leading to further enthralling releases.

The Promised End is not just a sludge metal album; it’s an immersive experience of human suffering. Every track unfolds a journey through emotional wastelands, pulling you down with its overwhelming heaviness, both musically and thematically. Crust captures the somber essence of the genre and magnifies it with their unique blend of sludge, doom, and atmospheric anguish. Fans of Neurosis, Cult Of Luna, and Eyehategod may find it appealing and embrace the most subtle nuances here.

Highlights: "Painful Memories", "Sorrow Wind" and ''Extreme Fatigue''