Crypta – Echoes Of The Soul (Napalm Records)
Crypta is at its core the rhythm section of Brazilian thrash monsters Nervosa, vocalist/bassist Fernanda Lira and drummer Luana Dametto both left the band and formed Crypta in 2019 with the future found in the extreme, accentuating the death metal sounds of their previous band while adding lashings of black metal mastery. They added Sonia Anubis (ex-Burning Witches) and Tainá Bergamaschi (ex-Hagbard) as guitarists and set about recording their debut album, after an extended hiatus due to the pandemic, the record was quickly put to plastic (digital) in January of this year, then mixed by Arthur Rizk (Code Orange/Powertrip) and mastered by one Jens Borgen. The result is a terrifying, textured extreme metal album that skilfully manages to walk a tightrope between battery and beauty. After the atmospheric intro the blistering drum patterns of Dametto and bludgeoning basslines of Lira drag you into the menacing world of Crypta, Lira’s croaked vocals rising out of the influence of Darkthrone, Mayhem etc.
Crypta is at its core the rhythm section of Brazilian thrash monsters Nervosa, vocalist/bassist Fernanda Lira and drummer Luana Dametto both left the band and formed Crypta in 2019 with the future found in the extreme, accentuating the death metal sounds of their previous band while adding lashings of black metal mastery. They added Sonia Anubis (ex-Burning Witches) and Tainá Bergamaschi (ex-Hagbard) as guitarists and set about recording their debut album, after an extended hiatus due to the pandemic, the record was quickly put to plastic (digital) in January of this year, then mixed by Arthur Rizk (Code Orange/Powertrip) and mastered by one Jens Borgen. The result is a terrifying, textured extreme metal album that skilfully manages to walk a tightrope between battery and beauty. After the atmospheric intro the blistering drum patterns of Dametto and bludgeoning basslines of Lira drag you into the menacing world of Crypta, Lira’s croaked vocals rising out of the influence of Darkthrone, Mayhem etc.
At 10 tracks it leaves it’s mark whether it be the modern death assault of the towering Death Arcana or the wild, blasting Kali which sees Anubis and Bergamaschi unleashing tremolo picking and lots of angry dive bombing, there are lots of traces to various extreme music genres running through the album, with tracks such as Shadow Within ripping flesh from bone due to its nasty vocal and nastier riffing. Crypta are much heavier than the band two its members hail from, the thrash metal influences very sparse between the death and black metal explosions. Echoes Of The Soul happily languishes in its heaviness, capturing you with its rage but keeping you involved with the virtuosity of those involved. Crypta look ready to seize any extreme metal crown in their sight with this debut. 8/10
Hammer King - Hammer King (Napalm Records)
Hammer King - Hammer King (Napalm Records)
When you're reviewing albums, you can often come across a lot of po-faced, super serious records that have a major message or ideology behind them. Often they are prog but some can also be doom or death metal. It can get a little bit wearing to the old brain, meaning, that like an actor that does a lot of small indie films, you occasionally have to listen to something a bit silly, like they do a big budget action flick with lots of explosions. I call this the John Cusack equation. Hammer King have always been an escapist band since their 2015 debut, coming from Ross The Boss's solo band and Saltatio Mortis, these Germans have been peddling speed metal riffs, fantasy lyrics (mainly about the titular Hammer King or indeed Hammers) ever since this self titled release being their fourth album of historical/fantasy metal.
Ably led by Titan Fox V these metal warriors will appeal to lovers of Hammerfall, Manowar and any other Hammer related band you want to mention, their music taking big swings of heavy metal power as the attack starts with blistering Awaken The Thunder, while Atlantis (Epilogue) is a mid-paced nautical rocker ripe for fist in the air before it evolves into some Maiden like instrumentals, the meanest song on the record though is Hammerschlag which features members of Tankard, Epica and Warkings. I've highly rated all of the previous Hammer King albums, and Hammer King is no different, it thunders like a horde of angry deities having a fight, Into The Storm especially is one of the speed metal anthems of the year (it's also one of the best Maiden songs they never wrote)! Give the high brow a rest for a while and delve into the continuing saga of the mighty Hammer King. Fists to the heavens, beer in hand, stereo up. Make sure the whole street can hear it! 8/10
Ably led by Titan Fox V these metal warriors will appeal to lovers of Hammerfall, Manowar and any other Hammer related band you want to mention, their music taking big swings of heavy metal power as the attack starts with blistering Awaken The Thunder, while Atlantis (Epilogue) is a mid-paced nautical rocker ripe for fist in the air before it evolves into some Maiden like instrumentals, the meanest song on the record though is Hammerschlag which features members of Tankard, Epica and Warkings. I've highly rated all of the previous Hammer King albums, and Hammer King is no different, it thunders like a horde of angry deities having a fight, Into The Storm especially is one of the speed metal anthems of the year (it's also one of the best Maiden songs they never wrote)! Give the high brow a rest for a while and delve into the continuing saga of the mighty Hammer King. Fists to the heavens, beer in hand, stereo up. Make sure the whole street can hear it! 8/10
Sinoptik - The Calling (OneRPM)
Ukrainian trio Sinoptik play a very psychedelic style of power rock that sit them in a middle position between Hawkwind, Cheap Trick and Muse. Drenched in lots of twiddly synth and lush organs, Sinoptik are a band unafraid of a little experimentation a track such as Apple Tree for instance reminds me a lot of The Alan Parsons Project but equally the musch missed Bigelf, while the final song The Call shifts from Muse into some Von Hertzen Brothers all while casting the listener back to Echoes-era Pink Floyd. From what I can decipher this is the fifth album by Sinoptik and it's a concept record about what awaits you when you or a love one passes away. Will you hear the call of those waiting for you? Again like with a lot of prog, it's quite a lofty concept meaning that musically they have to live up to this ambition.
I'd say that throughout the The Calling that they prove again and again that they can live up to their moniker as "the world's best band" according to a Global Battle Of The Bands. When you listen to this record you can understand why they would have been awarded this title as their musical style is quite broad meaning they could appeal to hardened classic rock fans (Planet Rock Massive) but also bearded proggers and even those who are into something a bit heavier. For a country with not that many rock/metal bands, Jinjer (who's Eugene mixed/mastered this album) and Stoned Jesus are two that come to mind, Sinoptik show that Ukraine is clearly fertile ground for music as all three acts are very different, Sinoptik being the most eclectic. Despite being a fifth release from Sinoptik, it's got all of the attributes to make it the one that will see them burst out of the Ukrainian scene into the rest of the world. 8/10
Red Dawn Rising - Weight Of The World (Self Released)
Belgian metalcore band Red Dawn Rising certainly wear their influences on their sleeve. Weight Of The World veers between the American sound of Killswitch Engage and In Flames, so Take A Stand is very much NWOAHM, packed with melodic leads while Pain/Victory has more death/black metal approach. There's the obligatory breakdowns on nearly every song, the guttural/clean vocals and groove stylings are also pretty standard across this concept record that deals with the lazy attitude of people today. The issue I have is that bands like Killswitch or In Flames do very little for me and this record sticks rather rigidly to its influence never really moving out of the metalcore comfort zone. Fine perhaps 10 years ago but not really as impressive in 2021. Still there's a market for it still, but for me it's a little one dimensional. 5/10
Ukrainian trio Sinoptik play a very psychedelic style of power rock that sit them in a middle position between Hawkwind, Cheap Trick and Muse. Drenched in lots of twiddly synth and lush organs, Sinoptik are a band unafraid of a little experimentation a track such as Apple Tree for instance reminds me a lot of The Alan Parsons Project but equally the musch missed Bigelf, while the final song The Call shifts from Muse into some Von Hertzen Brothers all while casting the listener back to Echoes-era Pink Floyd. From what I can decipher this is the fifth album by Sinoptik and it's a concept record about what awaits you when you or a love one passes away. Will you hear the call of those waiting for you? Again like with a lot of prog, it's quite a lofty concept meaning that musically they have to live up to this ambition.
I'd say that throughout the The Calling that they prove again and again that they can live up to their moniker as "the world's best band" according to a Global Battle Of The Bands. When you listen to this record you can understand why they would have been awarded this title as their musical style is quite broad meaning they could appeal to hardened classic rock fans (Planet Rock Massive) but also bearded proggers and even those who are into something a bit heavier. For a country with not that many rock/metal bands, Jinjer (who's Eugene mixed/mastered this album) and Stoned Jesus are two that come to mind, Sinoptik show that Ukraine is clearly fertile ground for music as all three acts are very different, Sinoptik being the most eclectic. Despite being a fifth release from Sinoptik, it's got all of the attributes to make it the one that will see them burst out of the Ukrainian scene into the rest of the world. 8/10
Red Dawn Rising - Weight Of The World (Self Released)
Belgian metalcore band Red Dawn Rising certainly wear their influences on their sleeve. Weight Of The World veers between the American sound of Killswitch Engage and In Flames, so Take A Stand is very much NWOAHM, packed with melodic leads while Pain/Victory has more death/black metal approach. There's the obligatory breakdowns on nearly every song, the guttural/clean vocals and groove stylings are also pretty standard across this concept record that deals with the lazy attitude of people today. The issue I have is that bands like Killswitch or In Flames do very little for me and this record sticks rather rigidly to its influence never really moving out of the metalcore comfort zone. Fine perhaps 10 years ago but not really as impressive in 2021. Still there's a market for it still, but for me it's a little one dimensional. 5/10