Back in 2021, CRYPTOSIS released their debut album into the Covid-stricken void. It was a thrilling, multi-faceted statement of intent, where disparate metallic strains were woven together into a frequently bewildering tapestry of icy, futuristic extremity. There was a lot going on, and if circumstances had been different, the Dutch trio’s sheer originality should have enabled them to have real impact. Though hardly an aborted mission, “Bionic Swarm” certainly laid down a fearsome template before receding from popular view. CRYPTOSIS are well aware that their sound is fiendishly difficult to pin down, and while “Celestial Death” is in no way a radical departure from its predecessor, it plainly marks the moment when this band sharpen up and strive for a less scattershot musical identity.
The core of CRYPTOSIS‘s sound is still a wild and technical strain of melodic, blackened death metal, but “Celestial Death” reframes it as something far more mysterious and compelling. From its synth-led intro onwards, every moment comes shrouded in clouds of microscopic, intergalactic debris. Vast in scope and symphonic by design, songs like opener “Faceless Matter” revel in disorienting, distorted scree, underpinned by furious musicianship that crackles with electrified zeal. CRYPTOSIS are still a spiky, hostile metal band at heart, and as clinical and synth-enveloped as “Celestial Death” occasionally becomes, the band’s chrome-plated anchor is firmly planted in the earthy underground.
If there was any criticism to be levelled at “Bionic Swarm”, it is that CRYPTOSIS often sounded in a hurry to offload all of their ideas. Here, the Dutchmen have been more economical and scrupulous about avoiding unnecessary riff overkill. “Static Horizon” is a song constructed from pure aggression, but it also has multiple majestic melodies, spectral keyboard tones, and moments of somber restraint that add depth to the cinematic thrill of it all. Likewise, “The Silent Call” takes a photon blaster to big-budget black metal and renders it anew in fluorescent, cosmic splendor, as riffs fire in from all angles, and drummer Marco Prij propels the whole caboodle to a jarring end point, like a runaway juggernaut. In stark contrast, “Ascending” is an elegant barrage of melody, power and refined ornamental trimmings.
After instrumental interlude “Motionless Balance” further dismantles the barrier between real and imagined, “Reign Of Infinite” provides CRYPTOSIS with an authentic, grandstanding moment. Densely layered and gleefully dramatic, it mirrors the rush of brutal, cosmic winds, building towards a cataclysmic finale with great urgency, and filling every sonic crevice with something imperious. A final triumvirate of “Absent Presence”, “In Between Realities” and “Cryptosphere” makes this band’s adventurous spirit even more obvious. In particular, “Cryptosphere” is a tech-death tour-de-force, powered by angular, prog metal grooves, and is almost ecstatic in its commitment to sonic overload. Meanwhile, voiceless epilogue “Wander Into The Light” uses mournful lead guitars and the wayward drones and hisses of an out-of-control modular synth to herald impending oblivion.
All of the promise and potential that was hinted at on their debut has come to fruition second time around. “Celestial Death” presents CRYPTOSIS as a proudly idiosyncratic alternative to the black and death metal status quo, but with more than enough fire and fury to keep heads banging from now until the Earth explodes.
Source: blabbermouth.net
