Crust “Stoic” [No Name]

atavist   1/11/2022   A Library, CD

I slipped a limb into the Slim Bin to reveal a fresh cut of doom metal from Russia. Crust wear their hearts, and their rather earnest lyrics, on their sleeves—all in English, and surprisingly easy to discern. What sticks out to me is the unusual production that brings the vocals to the forefront more than other projects working in the same vein. Mournful, dabbling in faster death metal passages on one track, and stonery guitar meanderings on the next. It was a riff on the third track, A Blind Man in Darkness, where something clicked and I started to see Crust’s full potential emerge. I find myself enjoying the instrumentation despite the self-help/don’t fall victim to your urges/be a stoic! vibe to the lyrics. This is one of the weirder doom records I’ve reviewed for that reason alone. Once we settle into the second half of the album, the works seem more encumbered by resignation than truly unbridled by rage. Tracks six and seven nearly collapse under their own weight, but a more patient listen will discover finer elements. The instrumental closing track, Desert, provides a relief from the vocals with some borderline psych feels from the soaring guitar.