#Kryptamok 🇫🇮 Kataklysmi

Band: Kryptamok
Title: Kataklysmi
Label: Purity Through Fire
Release date: 17 July 2022
Country: Finland
Format reviewed: High-quality Digital Recording

I didn’t know about Kryptamok until I decided to listen to their promo, but I can assure you that, right from the moment I pressed the “play” button, it became really familiar to me. Not because another band came to my mind while listening to them, no: they have their own personality. But for their cold and relentless grip; it’s more than obvious that they are from Finland, and they play icy cold Black Metal, if this could be considered a subgenre in itself.

After a spooky intro using synths and some effects, the first brutal assault comes to your ears: “Hävityksen ensimmäinen askel” (which means “The first step of destruction”, really accurate indeed): starts with blasting, thunderous drums along with Black Metal riffs and a bestial scream, and this is only the beginning! The vocalist using his mother tongue emphasizes the dark and cold feel, Finnish language sounds pretty harsh and aggressive and it really fits the most extreme Metal genres.

There’s a perfect union all along the album between guitars and drums, each of them contributing to the desolated and extremely bleak atmosphere in “Kataklysmi”. They don’t carry the cold: they ARE the cold. Bass also has his predominance at some passages, and vocals sound evil, harsh, dark enough to make you shiver. Some keyboards have been added in order to create an even more eerie landscape, like in “Eläköön sota ihmisten kesken”, that song really stands out for me.

“Helvetin esitaistelija” starts with an obscure speech, no idea of what the man is saying there but with that synth in the background and the echo effect, until the rest of the instruments join, damn! that’s really bewitching! This entire song has a mysterious halo, maybe it’s the most complex and varied one, I can easily lose my mind all through that six minutes spell. Great instrumentation in this track, the use of keyboards is fantastic here! I can feel the typical Finnish melancholy in this track, like an emotional inner journey. I love when Black Metal makes me feel this way, it’s more than just music, it’s pure passion and emotion.

When the last track arrives (“Lopunajan abominaatiot”), I can’t believe the album is about to end! These 36 minutes are too short! I feel the need to listen to it again, I want to get stuck in this place for a very long time in order to feel that sedative cold embrace. I give it 8,5/10 Sílvia

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8,5/10 To Greatness and Glory!
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