Krypts – Remnants of Expansion (Dark Descent Records. 2016).

Krypts – Remnants of Expansion (Dark Descent Records. 2016).

The 2013 debut album by these Finns was a supreme monument of Death Metal Darkness; a twisted, Lovecraftian nightmare made manifest in musical form. Returning three years later with their follow up, Remnants of Expansion, they have a lot to live up to. The first song, Arrow of Entropy, starts with reverberated sustained notes, before progressing into the putrid dirge that this band does so well, building up slowly at first and giving a brilliant display of the reasons why the band is currently one of the best in the underground. As it writhes and coils through the realm of cosmic destruction, you find yourself completely entranced by it, the Doom-laden riffs suffocating and hypnotising you simultaneously. The song is completely immersive, making it fly by without barely any registration of the fact that it is 11 minutes long. The brief but eerie throat-singing that introduces the second song, The Withering Titan, fits perfectly with the sinister, Otherworldly feel of the song, which doesn’t fail to deliver the evil, Lovecraftian atmosphere. It also is one of the few songs with fast sections, the other being Entrailed to the Breaking Wheel (a song that has some killer melodies). However, these sections still sound as malevolent as the rest of the slower and mid-tempo, heavy riffs. What I particularly enjoy is the third track, Remnants of Expansion. It is an instrumental track which makes good use of ethereal melodies, which float above the crashing riffs and carry forth the sense of darkness. The synthesizers in the song are used to subtly further enhance the song. The track to some extent helps to set the mood for the rest of the album and is of similar calibre to those instrumentals on the debut album which helped make it the monster it was. In comparison to the debut, Unending Degradation, this is without a doubt a close equal in regards to its imposing presence and the sense of horror that permeates the album. There is the same sense of evil, and the same brilliant song-writing that made me fall in love with Krypts in the first place. The production is fantastic and absolutely crushing. This is one of the best Death Metal records of the year, with a perfect blend of hammering riffs, melodies, killer drumming, and excellent song-writing to summon forth the demons from realms beyond the comprehension of man. 8.75/10.