Sometimes an album cover can tell you everything you need to know about a band’s music. In the case of Finland’s Krypts, this is most certainly the case. A dark, imposing valley set in relief by swathes of ominous red sky really inspires a sense of desolation and the unknown. As you look closer and notice the lone, tiny example of humanity banished to walk this imposing path, it’s impossible not to feel some sympathy for the poor unfortunate. When you press play, a sense of empathy becomes more appropriate as the audio equivalent of this scene confronts the listener. Formed in 2008, these guys have already enjoyed plaudits for a well-received demo and EP, and I have no doubt that ‘Unending Degradation’ will further increase their status in death metal circles.
An ominous instrumental is the starting point; heavy and oppressive, like spending a holiday inside a cavern. The pronounced, rumbling bass and rich drum sounds are particularly striking, although torrents of guitar complete the haunting scene perfectly. This is HEAVY, by which I mean in that early Paradise Lost way. With the first track proper, ‘Blessed Entwinement’, a brutal force erupts. Antti Kotiranta’s appropriately deep vocals establish themselves amidst a general feel of Bolt Thrower. A couple of fast blast-beating passages appear although the strong bass presence ensures that even when they do accelerate, Krypts still sound suffocating. Each audible note from the four strings seems to maintain the atmosphere, although various dissonant guitar strains also help. Belligerent death/doom slowness pervades the majority of the opening track, not to mention a sense of obscurity – the type of which is symbolic of Finland’s death metal heritage, as in the likes of Demigod or Demilich. As ‘Open the Crypt’ groovily thunders by, the blindingly obvious – which many bands seem to miss – is made clear: if you employ a meaty production, in which each instrument is present and well-defined, it will double the impact of your music.
‘Dormancy of the Ancients’ transpires to be another example of crushing death from the darkest corner of the tomb. With some of the playing, there are aspects which bring to mind the approach of Amorphis around ‘The Karelian Isthmus’. Likewise, a band such as Hail Of Bullets also springs to mind due to that combination of slow delivery and overwhelming production. Regarding notions of death/doom, those slow mournful melodies of ‘Inhale…’ could quite easily be the product of a doom band, save for such monstrous roars. The majestic, claustrophobic end section embodies the ‘best of both worlds’ feel that this merging of influences creates – equal parts sinister and unrelenting. ‘The Black Smoke’ follows with a more purposeful pace to it, but if you are after a track to headbang to and really mean it, refer to ‘Day of Reckoning’. Building in characteristic fashion with trails of guitar arcing above huge riffs, the music soon diverges into barbarous speed. Hammering riffs and drum-work leave you with no option but to rearrange that grey matter. The final track, ‘Beneath the Archaic’, really sums up this band in that they have such a clear lineage to the ancient gods of Finnish death. As throughout, adjectives like ‘dark’, ‘majestic’ and ‘oppressive’ apply.
Eight tracks, thirty-nine minutes and it’s all over. Talk about intense, this is the kind of album that will be saved for those special occasions when you require something extra heavy and bleak. It may be tough to pick out the individual tracks off the top of your head, but then that’s not what this experience is about at all. Perhaps the most apt way to describe it is as ‘the thing the should not be’ – in other words, a hideously black, creeping mass which shrouds and decimates all in its midst. Be warned: ‘Unending Degradation’ is a beast of otherworldly proportions, and it’s coming to get you…
(9/10 Jamie Wilson)
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