Cryptosis – Celestial Death
Release Date: 7th March 2025
Label: Century Media
Bandcamp
Genre: Melodic Death Metal, Technical Thrash, Melodic Thrash.
FFO: Warbringer, Voivod.
Review By: Andy Spoon
As far as melodically, I think that Cryptosis is right on the ball. The synth and the rhythm section really seem to understand how to make a compelling musical track, most of which having howling chorals and strings with a combination of dissonant guitar and bass melodies that scratch a neural itch in my brain. Specifically, the bass guitar is part of the more entertaining sections of the album, as I was always listening for the next riff, hoping for dots and accents with plucked harmonics. I absolutely loved that element.
Vocally, the vocals tend to come from the grindcore or thrash school on tone. I think it’s a great juxtaposition with the melodic, something you don’t always get with similar vocals. An important thing to think about when sizing up a new release is to think about what that release brings to the “marketplace” of the art form. In Cryptosis’ case, I think that I would have to summarize it as a well-thought-out hybrid animal of several designs, ranging from melodic death metal to thrashy. Celestial Death is an album that is generally-consistent, not deviating between different material and writing style, at least, not to my ears. I think it’s important to find variations to some degree on every album, though, as 8–12 tracks of the exact same material can be really difficult to stomach, let alone enjoy.
I think that there are a couple of tracks which bring some variation in song type, even base genre, but not overall tone. The heavy synth and melodic basis is still there on just about every track. The distinct vocal delivery manages to pervade the album, even though some tracks seem to tend towards a less-heavy pace, which is certainly welcome when listening to a whole album, versus a mixtape. Honestly, I don’t know if I needed multiple interludes of chorals and eerie tones. That being said, atmosphere lovers will find those to be enjoyable. Personally, I end up finding all of those playing on my workout playlist as various tracks from different albums play – leaving me to lift weights to 90 seconds of eerie chorals and a brief ending.
The album had a little bit of a lull in the middle with some tracks that tended more towards the melodic, and less towards the extreme metal, something that is generally not a bother. I was wondering if the album was starting to wander into what ultimately felt like “weaker” material. However, Celestial Death turns around with a few more of the fast, heavier tracks with some serious meat on the “bones” before ending on a doomy exodus as its crescendo. I think that the album is wholly-decent and worth a listen if you’re a fan of melodic/progressive metal with a thrashy element. If you are wanting something more than that, I’m not totally sure that you’ll find it here. It’s overall a fair-to-good offering that has a couple great and listenable tracks, but could easily be played front to back for the right fan.
(3 / 5)
