(written by Islander)
We’ve had lots of good things to say about the previous music of the Lithuanian band Crypts of Despair, most recently within Andy Synn’s review of their 2021 album of blended death and black metal All Light Swallowed, which he described as “a perfect example of the level of annihilation that can be achieved by the crossbreeding of these two savage styles” — “the sort of highly-evolved, apex predator that doesn’t really need to do anything particularly new or revolutionary to achieve its goals – it simply kills and kills and kills again, without remorse or restraint.”
At an earlier time, in the context of their preceding album The Stench of the Earth, I also referred to their music as both “an irresistible headbang trigger” and a simulacrum of “what it feels like to suffer a cranial fracture and concussive trauma.”
Now these killers are returning with a third full-length (their second one for Transcending Obscurity Records), and a title as bleak as those of the first two: We Belong In The Grave. What we have for you today is the third single from the album, “Terminal Dias.”
In contemplation of the new album, T.O. acclaims the band as “veritable masters” of “sheer aural terror”:
The new album retains the band’s intimidating demeanour but now the music is comparatively more condensed, visceral, intuitive, and even displays hints of melancholy. The execution remains forceful and the riffs are compelling enough to commit crimes, egged on by the relentless barrage of seemingly multi-tongued demonic vocals. The band functions as a unit better now than ever before with a thick, cohesive sound that drives the point home.
Focusing on “Terminal Dias“, Crypts of Despair deliver what we’ve come to expect, but with some intriguing variations in form. On the one hand, they discharge maniacally swarming riffage, fast-attack drumming, earthquaking bass lines, malignant growls, and rabid screams, and they also fire up the jackhammers, delivering a skull-ruining and neck-bending beating.
But they also lace the music with eerily slithering and mysteriously glittering melodies that assume increasingly greater places of prominence even as the music is clobbering listeners senseless. Those sounds are beleaguered and distressing, like tendrils of misery infiltrating from another plane of existence, a doomed one.
In line with those atmospheric ingredients, which provide a mysterious and ethereal contrast to the song’s brute-force power, the track concludes with a chilling ambient phase in which haunting creatures seem to wail — but only after a final administration of pile-driving punishment.
CRYPTS OF DESPAIR:
Jonas Kanevičius – Vocals
Dovydas Auglys – Guitars
Tautvydas Kartanas – Guitars
Simonas Jurkevičius – Bass
Henri Mäll – Drums
Transcending Obscurity will release We Belong In The Grave on April 18th on gatefold LP vinyl, jewel-case CD, cassette tape, and digital formats, with lots of apparel and other merchandise options featuring the album’s striking cover art. Find pre-orders via the links below.
Below you’ll find official videos for the first two singles from the album as well — “Expulsion to Purgatory” and “Undisillusioned“.
T.O. recommends the album for fans of: Ulcerate, Mgla, Replicant, Skaphos, Krypts, Obscureviolence, Dead Congregation, and Saevus Finis.
PRE-ORDER:
https://cryptsofdespairdeath.bandcamp.com/album/we-belong-in-the-grave
http://transcendingobscurity.aisamerch.com/
http://eu.tometal.com/
CRYPTS OF DESPAIR:
http://facebook.com/cryptsofdespair