(written by Islander)
Let’s dive right into the video and song we’re premiering today from Descent Into Lunacy, the debut album of the Swedish death metal band Cryptorium, and then come back to fill in the details.
“Horrid Exultation” is the name of the song, and that title is the epitome of truth-in-advertising: There is not one thing about the song that’s sane, not one thing amenable to reason or mercy, only the kind of demented and frenzied viciousness that spawns ghastly visions — and a finale that brings horrors of a different kind.
Cryptorium‘s guitarist has tuned his instrument to the distorted timbre of an abrasive and acidic whine, and deploys trem-picked riffage whose dense, whirring vibrations add to the crazed sensations of writhing and gnashing chords, augmented by shrill, freaked-out leads. The riffing rises, and the violence sounds ecstatic. It descends, and cold cruelty reigns, with awful misery in its wake.
The furious snapping of the snare and the malignant bellowing of the vocals further enhances the feeling of a feeding frenzy among insectile armies armed with circle saws and commanded by a great beast. In the low end, it sounds like an enormous tunneling machine turbulently boring through bedrock, about to cause sinkholes beneath the inhuman attackers and their helpless victims.
As foretold, near the end the music brings horrors of a different kind — less exhilarating and more gruesome. The pace slows dramatically, and the music dismally heaves and pounds, still abrasively scouring in its tones but moaning and clawing forward like some ugly leviathan with a full belly.
The song is presented through a video that provides hallucinatory depictions of the band on stage.
CRYPTORIUM lineup
Fabian Larsen – guitar/lead vocals
Knalle Arvidsson – bass/backing vocals, lead vocals on “Mournful Dawn” and “Horrid Exultation”
Albin Holgersson – drums/lead vocals on “A Distant Dream”
Now, to fill in some details: Cryptorium started their grisly life in November 2022, eventually producing (as a duo of Larsen and Arvidsson) their Cryptic Bloodlust demo, which quickly sold out in several runs of tapes. Then joined by third member Holgersson, who replaced the band’s short-lived original drummer, they recorded this eight-song, 30-minute debut album, which takes inspiration from the likes of Dismember, Entombed, Nirvana 2002, Dissection, and Gorement.
On November 29th, Personal Records will release Descent Into Lunacy on CD format, while Iron Fortress Records will release the tape version. Explore the options and get more info via the links below.
Also below, you’ll find a stream of the first single from the album, the ruinous and ravenous “Void of Life“.
PRE-ORDER:
https://www.personal-records.com/product/pre-order-cryptorium-descent-into-lunacy-cd/
https://personal-records.bandcamp.com/album/descent-into-lunacy
https://www.ironfortressrecords.com/
CRYPTORIUM:
https://cryptoriumband.bandcamp.com/
https://instagram.com/cryptorium_swe
https://www.facebook.com/Cryptorium-61552092476503/