Name? Check. Album title? Check. Lyrical themes dealing with graveyards? Check. Sometimes not being surprised when encountering a record is pleasing. Just from a cursory glance at the debut EP from Cemetery Filth one knows they will not be encountering any operatic solos or progressive melodies. In fact, there will probably be more than one reference to the gloom of the undead. Screams from the Catacombs works in the same way formula fiction succeeds as the band is given a task of creating a mood, and they do just that, if not far better.

With all of what was said in the preceding paragraph discussing expectations, Cemetery Filth is surprising in the lyrical department. One of the central focuses for Cemetery Filth deals almost entirely with the mythos of H.P. Lovecraft. While both the album and band name do not immediately trigger a literary bell, Screams From the Catacombs devotes itself to the idolization of cosmic entities and the nexus between the known and unknown. The band’s self titled song deals entirely with the worship of the Shub-niggurath.

I feel that for a debut release, Screams from the Catacombs far surpasses the bar for an introduction. Though the band goes for a soft spot with Lovecraft references, these things could not have been pulled off if not for an above average attention to detail. If one was looking for death highly bruised by Lovecraft, I can see no better than to spend an eternity within a cosmic tomb.