Over the past ten years, Krypts from Helsinki have been on a steady climb towards the very apex of Finnish Death Metal. Their debut “Unending Degradation” (2013) came out at just the right time, in the wake of Old School Death Metal’s return and the Death Doom boom, to give them a flying start. When the important second album “Remnants of Expansion” (2016) took the right steps to improve the quality, everything seemed to be ready for their rise to premier league of all things suffocating and gory – to Finnish Death Metal’s very prime.
Yet, their third album “Cadaver Circulation” manages still to take us by surprise. By a great surprise, even. With few careful steps taken out of the Doom direction, Krypts manage to animate their music completely. “Cadaver Circulation” is distinctly more Death than Doom and here lies the element of surprise in the matter. The former methods of exaggerated crawl and undying repetition have given way to the quintessence of Death Metal: big, monstrous riffs! And in that department “Cadaver Circulation” has plenty to offer.
“Sinking Transient Waters” is a surprise starter for a Krypts album. A fast tune – obviously worshipping the unholy shrines of Incantation – secures the listener in it’s grip and never lets go. This is Death Metal to the max! “The Reek of Loss” being their biggest nod to Hooded Menace to date, and “Mycelium” comes across even as a Finnish version of early Florida Death Metal. The name is a hint, as it certainly grows on you like colony of fungi on a mouldering tree. Yet, the real grower of the album would be the third track “Echoes Emanate Forms“. this ethereally doomy, still crushing composition will be the highlight of live shows of the future for certain. It has pretty much nailed the trademark Finnish Death Metal vibe, but bringing it to the modern day. An absolute bulldozer of a Death Metal anthem!
“Cadaver Circulation” is the most enjoyable slab of Death Metal I have heard in 2019 so far. There have been a few good ones already, but none so thoroughly comprehensive. It is a document of Krypts taking bold steps to new directions, paying homage to their heroes and still maintaining their own identity. Maybe even more distinctively than ever. The album wraps the listener tightly in its magic and is easy to spin through, then push play again. At places (especially in the track “Vanishing“) the old repetitive Krypts tends to re-emerge a bit, but fortunately the careful song writing of the record corrects the direction quickly back to the right angle.
With “Cadaver Circulation” Krypts are harvesting the crops (Kropts!) of all their earlier work. They have been building a solid reputation, both live and on record, and have now finally risen to the very top of the Finnish Death Metal tree, not with hype, but with their own merit. No longer the new kids, but seasoned road warriors who have dropped the definite Death Metal album of first parts of 2019.
Rating – 4.5/5
The Metal Wanderlust 