Creepoid

By Nic Sanderson

Philadelphia’s Creepoid released their most recent album, “Cemetery Highrise Slum”, on June 23. From its opening the album erupts into a gnashing cavalcade fashioned and driven by the dense gravity of the rhythm section, which claws forward with power and determination in each movement. Construction crews of grimey guitar tones and hums dive-bomb into abysmal sonic depths that burst into gravely expressive choruses. Creepoid’s vocal delivery punctuates more affecting lines by tonally expanding and sliding at their end, which gives some songs a catchiness and attractiveness tried and failed by many noisey grunge acts in the mid-‘90s. Some of the lighter tracks, such as “Fingernails” and “Shaking”, lay out dreamscapes of spacious, drifting guitar lines and meditative vocals which are held afloat by slimily-overdriven bass. In the album’s opening track, “American Smile”, layers riffs among prominent vocals and buoyant rhythms and stands out due to its effective blend of earthy harshness, sensitivity, and a sense of physicality. Creepoid’s “Cemetery Highrise Slum” effectively serves as musical quicksand, both for its dismal tone and its ability to ensnare the attention of its listener.