Following on from a brief first demo independently released in 2019, the German band Crypts (which features former members of Mourning Caress, Warhead, Savagery, and Black Space Riders) released their debut album Coven of the Dead last month through the charmingly named German label This Charming Man Records.

That album quickly proved that Crypts have developed a mastery of an old style of death metal spawned at the end of the ’80s and the early ’90s — a style epitomized by such bands as Autopsy, Bolt Thrower, Morgoth, and early Entombed (among others). It’s a stripped-down, viscerally compelling, and yet atmospherically evocative style, and though Crypts haven’t reinvented the wheel, they’ve kept it moving with crushing power and sharpened it to a lethal edge.

For those who haven’t yet discovered the gruesome, bone-smashing power of that album, we have for you today a great enticement for it — the premiere of an official video for the song’s horrifying title track. Continue reading »