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Kryptos: The ark of Gemini
13/03/12 || BamaHammer
Thanks to fellow staffer and generally just all-around awesome dude, gk, I was recently made aware of this heavy-ish thrash-ish black-ish death-ish metal outfit from beautiful Bangalore, India. These guys have been working away at their trade for over a decade and have three full-lengths to their name, including a soon-to-be-released 2012 album entitled “The Coils of Apollyon” (which I will surely be getting), and to say that I’m impressed by what I’ve heard so far is a bit of an understatement.
Kryptos does nothing technically spectacular, but they are definitely well-versed in their “Fear of the dark” era Iron Maiden guitar riffs. Everything from the riffs to the production sounds downright nostalgic, and I absolutely love this record because of it. Essentially what Kryptos has done is take that Maiden-worship sound to a different place altogether by utilizing an almost hissy black metal approach to death metal vocals instead of the bombastic, operatic Dickinson-ism that this brand of metal would probably suit.
Honestly, from the moment I first heard “Sphere VII” gallop out of my speakers, I was hooked. The production, like the rhythms, are just terrifically old-school and nostalgic. The guitars are somewhat thin and not even remotely over-produced, and that gives the album an organic mid-90s sound that you generally don’t hear with the newest modern releases. The bass has an excellent tone, is good and punchy, and clearly inspired by Steve Harris, which is never a bad thing. The one element about this album’s sound that I absolutely love is the drum sound. I don’t know why I love it exactly, but they just sound the way drums used to sound. The snare is a nice long and resounding classic snare sound. The bass drum is definitive with authoritative punchy smacks and a deep tone. The high-hats, are hissy and splashy and just generally sound amazing.
Despite their nostalgic sound, Kryptos still manages to bring some really cool things without sounding at all totally derivative. The riffs are ridiculously catchy, and I can never resist the urge to tap my foot or nod my head along with them. The riffs aren’t what I would even call very tight, but for some reason it only adds to the charm of the tunes. The drumming also plays a huge part in the groove, the high-hat work in particular. Ryan Colaco always provides just the right touches to make things that much more groovy, whether it’s a perfectly placed fill that follows a riff or just a simple extra tap on that glorious aforementioned high-hat. It’s truly a classy and terrific performance.
Like I said before, simply saying this album impresses me is an understatement. It has plenty of catchy songs and tons of groove, and it has already earned its way into my own personal list of albums that I greatly revere. Nothing you hear on this album is going to wow you by any means, but I guarantee that you’ll find some groovy, enjoyable heavy-ish thrash-ish black-ish death-ish metal. Thank you, gk.
- Information
- Released: 2008
- Label: Old School Metal
- Website: www.kryptosindia.com/
- Band
- Nolan Lewis: vocals, guitar
- Rohit Chaturvedi: guitar
- Jayawant Tewari: bass
- Ryan Colaco: drums
- Tracklist
- 01. Sphere VII
- 02. Order of DNA
- 03. Heretic Supreme
- 04. Tower Of Illusions
- 05. The Revenant
- 06. Vulcan
- 07. Trident
- 08. Liquid Grave
- 09. The Presence Of Eternity
