Not to be confused with the two other bands by the same name [both still in existence, one from Brazil (play Black Metal since 2006 and have thus far only released a demo that same year) and one from Mexico (a Death/ Black Metal outfir in existence since 2002 which as thus far delivered a 2004 single and a 2005 full-length)] this Bessude (Sardinia) based Italian Brutal Black/ Death Metal act was founded way back in January 2003 by the trio of lead singer/ bassist Luigi Cara, guitarist Andrea Sechi, and drummer Giampiero Serra...whom added a fourth member in the person of second guitarist Ivan Carta soon after, to give the live sound of the band (then a relatively unrefined but effective Black Death) a fuller voice.
Thanks to a series of concerts, and releases of the 1-track single Prophecy Of Death and the 5-track demo Hard Reality, the band made quite a name for itself in the Sardinian underground, but were then slightly halted in their progress when Carta decided to leave the band in 2005. Undaunted, the remaining trio persevered, and went o to record a second demo entitled Extreme Claustrophobic Terror, which they released in 2007. With a sound now more profane and brutal than on their first releases, and in order to promote their new material to a wider public, the band now set out to tour the club scene in the North of Italy with bands of a similar sound. This in turn lead to Deathcrush recording the 4-way split-CD 4 Way To Scream Your Hate with the bands Land Of Hate, Smashhead (actually a second band in which Cara played from 2004 to 2009), and Zora...an album released in 2009.
The band went on to write new material, for which they recorded (non-commercial) rehearsal demos in 2010, however not seriously recording until the band entered Valkar Studios in September 2011 and May 2012. The guys then signed to Casket Music for the worldwide distribution of their debut full-length. And I guess that this time there's no separate release dates for the UK and “rest of world”, as no UK releases date was mentioned on the label's website! In the meantime, Cara still found time for some extra-curricular activities, providing Ghjttatura with a bassist on live performances during 2009, and also briefly becoming part of the band Calvary during 2012. Just to make details complete, it seems the drummer also has a history having played with Necromessiah...but I am uncertain of when that actually happened.
Citing the likes of Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, Immolation, Morbid Angel, Behemoth, Nile, Vader and Suffocation as influences, the music on the album is in fact more than the sum of its components. Vocally, you get both growled singing as a Blackened somewhat scream-like uttering, which occasionally happen at the same time, and would be impossible to perform on stage unless one of the other guys supports cara n that field. As far as the guitar parts go, there's also moments where one understands that one and the same guitarist could not at the same time perform the great rhythmic leads and solos. However one manages to deal with those situations in live conditions, the album however is a splattering piece of music with very good production bringing out each detail of the music in its crystal-clear brutality! Great stuff, even if the lyrical topics (war, suffering, pain, hate, death) are somewhat out of sync with what I get confronted with on a daily basis...
Oh...almost forgot to tell you where to go for a decent listening session, right? Surf either to (www.) facebook.com/Deathcrush-Death-Metal or (www.) reverbnation.com/deathcrush for a lavish session including no less than 4 tracks off the current album, the complete Hard Reality demo, 4 tracks off the 2007 demo, and one track off the split-CD the band was involved in. Note that some of the songs were featured on different releases. The full-length's “Necrogod Devastation”, for instance, was already on the 2007 demo, and also got featured on the split-CD. The 2007 demo also contained the song “Blasphemic Souls”, which also got featured on the split.