Around 2019, I first got exposed to Texas’s extreme metal band Crafting The Conspiracy after listening to one of their songs titled The Dimension Door released on the Slam Worldwide YouTube channel and I was instantly hooked. Combining elements of deathcore, melodic death metal and even experimental, this is the continuation and sequel to 2019’s The Cosmic Key PT I which demonstrated and had a much more dynamic sound in comparison to their debut EP Human Error. With Cosmic Key Pt II, they’ve taken leaps and bounds to unleash hellfire and brimstone where they kept the traditional signatures, production and devastating instrumentals on Cosmic Key Pt I and turned it to full volume capacity where everything they’ve taken from that record and have improved themselves drastically which makes this a much more fierce, progressive, authentic and presented pieces of music they’ve done to date.
From their outstanding lyrical content revolving different themes from Naruto, Science Fiction and other metaphors to the overall fantastic melodies and executed arrangements displayed, Crafting The Conspiracy are surely a band to keep an eye out because I truly feel for a underground band been around since 2014 is very impressive to see how much they’ve been studying their homework to create, and concentrate what they wanted to accomplish out of The Cosmic Key Pt II and therefore, it worked successfully in my favor. Take Equilibrium (Earthbound II) and Cosmic Key II Polymerization for example, you can hear a wide variety of influences from The Black Dahlia Murder, Shadow Of Intent, In Flames, So This Is Suffering and bits of pieces from Thy Art Is Murder with musical brilliance well as amazing craftsmanship as you can easily tell the members have studied and crafted a EP that’s extremely heavy, aggressive and overall the compositions alongside the instrumentals have set themselves sky high to be a potential band years from now to inspire and motivate the scene.
This EP is not only extreme headbang worthy material with furious guitar driven, thunderous and galloping drum sounding and well produced vocals to extreme signatures all surrounded by their natural sound influencing the Gothenburg melodic death metal days well as keeping the deathcore-esque style alive. There’s breakneck riffing, astonishing harmonies reminiscent the imagery of beautifully written songwriting and thunderous drumming and production aforementioned still commands the very respectable audiences together to form a album unfairly maligned in musical form done perfectly well. Vocals are top notch, drumming is hard hitting and heaviness all around, glass shattering wielding guitar structures of balancing solos in between the instrumentals providing a complimentary act beneath the metallic surfaces of the stronger and well deserved offerings possible. If you love your deathcore with a Swedish melodic death metal twist then you shouldn’t pass up The Cosmic Key Pt II because this surely the band’s best work to date and I can’t wait to see what lies beneath for their upcoming material.
Overall Score: 9.0/10
Review by Jake Butler
