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CRYPT SERMON “The Stygian Rose”
CRYPT SERMON “The Stygian Rose”
By Dr. Abner Mality
Albums like this do NOT come along very often. A couple a year is about all you can expect. I’m talking albums that stand up to an almost infinite number of replays, ones that hit you immediately yet reveal themselves gradually. I knew CRYPT SERMON had it in them and now they have delivered with “The Stygian Rose”.
This is a “pure” product. Mystical, epic, dark and brooding, the album sounds like the perfect synthesis of CANDLEMASS and METAL CHURCH. Doom is here in high proportion, yet there are also moments of propulsive energy. The sound, the production is absolutely pristine for this kind of music. Not a note is out of place, everything fits perfectly. But nothing makes a stronger impression than the lead guitars, which wail away with such classic metal purity, it almost makes you weep. And the layout of both songs and album as a whole is perfect. It starts with the excellent “Glimmers In the Underworld”, where the CANDLEMASS/METAL CHURCH connection is burned into the brain. Well, very few albums by those bands match this one. The tuneful snarl of Brooks Wilson sure brings to mind some of the CHURCH’s singers like David Wayne and Ronnie Munroe. But he can do a smoother clean vocal as well.
The flow of superb doomy riffs is non-stop. “Thunder (Perfect Mind)” has a great semi-Middle Eastern groove to it that reminds me of CANDLEMASS’ “Ancient Dreams” period. “Down In the Hollow” is a track with a lot of layers, many different guitar tones and tempos and which slowly unfurls like a battle flag. A song that demands further inspection. In contrast, “Heavy Is The Crown of Bone” is the most straightforward bruiser on the album yet still sporting elegant lead guitar.
The album really reaches its apex with the last two tunes. Rare to hear an album that starts strong and gets even better at the end. “The Scrying Orb” has some amazing melodies and Wilson’s most soothing croons. Not what you’d call a skullcrusher yet plenty heavy and very memorable. Everything prior comes together on the monumental title track. And I mean EVERYTHING! This is simply one of the best epic metal songs ever written...like a mix of old RUSH, DIO-era SABBATH, CANDLEMASS and SOLITUDE AETURNUS. I could listen to this one 20 times in a row and never get bored.
For sure, this is the best thing CRYPT SERMON have ever done and easily one of the top 10 American metal albums of the 21st century. If you ever liked their older material or any of the other bands mentioned here, you simply cannot miss this. The bar has been raised so high, I don’t know if they’ll be able to beat it.
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