Readers, can it really be five years since Crypt Sermon released their last album, “The Ruins of Fading Light?”. This traditional doom / heavy metal sextet have been together since 2013, and based principally in Philadelphia. Along with the likes of Khemmis, they’ve been one of the more exciting bands to watch in the doom scene for some time, and so it was that when “The Stygian Rose” landed, I was really excited to hear it.

Now, if your PR blurb that comes with the album mentions “for fans of Candlemass, Solitude Aeturnus, King Diamond, Visigoth, King Diamond, Eternal Champion”, you better have your ducks in a row. Claiming any kind of similarity to those hallowed bands is one hell of a brag. If you deliver – fine: but if you don’t, it’s egg on the face.

“Glimmers in the Underworld” sets the tone – a massive Solitude Aeturnus-esque American take on Classic Doom, with some tremendous atmospheric sections, clean vocals and nods to the afore mentioned King Diamond, especially in the well-constructed guitar melodies. As an opener, it’s incredibly strong. Soaring but gritty vocals, tasteful keyboards, inventive axe-work and a powerful rock-influenced rhythm section.

“Thunder (Perfect Mind)” arrives next, with those eastern-type melodies that really last long in the memories. I have to give praise to the vocals of Brooks Wilson, which have a more gravelly tone than on previous releases, but still manage to soar powerfully as required. The pace is…erm…Stygian, but again huge props to drummer Enrique Sagarnaga, who manages to produce some jaw-dropping moments on the kit to a slow, slow song.

“Down in the Hollow” has a little more speed to it, producing a great tension between the mid-tempo and aggressive chug of the verse, and the spider-like and labyrinthine turns of the chorus. The lock-step of Matt Knox’s bass with the drums propels this song through the progressions, and it’s noticeable how when the song settles into a foot-stomping moment at around the 4:30 moment, it’s the low-end boys who keep things tight.

“Heavy is the Crown of Bone”, aside from having this years “Most Metal Song Title” award, is essentially the answer to the question, “what would it sound like if Nightfall-era Candlemass wrote the soundtrack to Conan The Barbarian?”. It’s a head-down, fist-in-the-air instant doom metal classic. The chug and churn of Steve Jansson and Frank Chin is matched by their inventive use of six-string melodies.

“Scrying Orb” starts with a series of washes from keyboardist Tanner Anderson (who, metal obsessives also plays in the great Obsequiae), and is ….well, it’s a ballad. No! Hear me out! It’s not some “Nothing Else Matters” horror – this is much more in the vein of classic Rainbow moments, albeit played through the lens of being in a trad-doom band. Towards the end, it all gets a bit like the aural equivalent to the end-scenes of Krull (ask your dad), but if – like me – you’re a sucker for tales of wizardry and swords-and-sandles, you’ll enjoy this as an outlier on the record.

The title track, and album closer “The Stygian Rose” is the definition of an epic. Running at over 11 minutes wrong, this is the bastard child of Bathory, Candlemass and King Diamond. Everything else on the album is distilled and deployed here – the tremendous axe work; the powerful low-end collaboration; the mystical synths and the soaring vocals. As a full stop, it stakes a claim to being an expression of everything the band stands for.

The progression for the band has been remarkable; they’ve come back and produced their strongest album yet. It’s a self-assured and powerful release that should see them lauded as the brightest hope for the future of epic doom metal. A fantastic release.

(9/10 Chris Davison)

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https://darkdescentrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-stygian-rose