REVIEW: CRYPTA - Echoes of the Soul

 

CRYPTA - Echoes of the Soul

Napalm Records

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This is Sonia Anubis's former band now, she's ventured onto Cobra Spell.  And what a solid old school death metal sound to this International act featuring Brazilian/Dutch natives.  All woman band, these members but out some furious and intense death metal.  I've not liked the album initially because of the vocals, but it kind of grew on me.  The leads are fantastic too!  Not too many points I'd take off due to mediocrity, these women are anything but that!  The rhythms are fast and furious.  There isn't a song on here that doesn't disappoint.  The melodies are good and it's definitely a worthwhile release.

It's actually taken about 5-6 spins to come up with an intelligible content here because there's so many intricate parts to this LP.  As I say, I wasn't a fan of the vocals, but it did kind of grow on me.  They are unique and I guess I'm so used to standard death metal that I forget that this is a female band so they're going to have their own sound.  Sonia kicking ass on lead plus the band writes some creative riffs.  I'd have to say that this debut is admirable.  I'm hoping that the departure of Sonia will embrace some new talent now on the next LP.  They're touring (I believe) and I think that they'll pick up more good ideas to the person who fills Sonia's slot.

Production quality was good, solid and tight.  It did the musicians' justice and there really wasn't any parts to this LP that are boring.  The energy is all there and the leads were tight as well.  I don't think that any of the music was unoriginal.  I think it was creatively captivating.  And just to know that they're active is positive.  The rhythms were solid and the overall songwriting was admirable.  However, I don't think that this is higher than a "B" rating.  Again, it took a while to get into but as I see they were reaching for their own sound in the death metal arena and did so in achieving that.  Much kudos for that!

I purchased this a while ago even though they're on Spotify and Bandcamp.  I always say support the band and buy the physical copy but that's up to you.  If you want to hear some fresh talent in the arena, Crypta is where it's at!  They have so much to offer and have enormous energy!  I applaud them for giving their own sound as an International death metal band.  Key into the music, not so much of the lyrics as most death metal bands don't sing about very meaningful topics.  If you're able to overcome this dilemma, you will most likely be totally into this band.  Check 'em out!

Ryan “Death8699” Fanucchi