Artist: Kryptos
Album: Coils of Apollyon
I wasn’t even born in the 1980’s, but I sure know what thrash metal bands from that decade sound like. Like most metalheads around the world, I grew up listening to Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Kreator, Megadeth, Slayer, Metallica and the likes. Since their inception, Kryptos has been sounding and still does sound scarily like at least three of the above mentioned bands. Whether that’s a good or a bad thing depends on if you’re still a die-hard old school fiend or not. (I know using the word ‘scarily’ to describe something is not the most objective way to phrase things, but hey, right to opinion right?)
‘Coils of Apollyon’, released by the German label AFM Records in September 2012 is Kryptos’ third studio album following “Spiral Ascent” (2004) and “The Ark of Gemini” (2008). The Album stands at number 31 under “Most wanted in Speed Metal & Thrash Metal Albums” on the German edition of Amazon – a commendable achievement considering the other names on that list are Kreator, Slayer, Sodom, Megadeth, Motorhead, Testament, Exodus……you get the picture.
Nobody will argue with me when I say that Kryptos has never sounded better than on this album – literally speaking. In fact, I think this album is easily one of the best produced Indian metal albums. Being signed by a giant of a label has its advantages, evidently. The vocals sound a lot clearer and heavier than on the previous albums, and the drums pack one heck of a punch. The guitar tones sound very organic and are sit nicely in the mix. Simply put; guitar tones – MAD. However, in my opinion, it’s the tone of the bass guitar that deserves a mention and lots of envy.
The majority of songs in the album follow an intro-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-interlude-solo pattern. This combined with the obvious but catchy melodies and straightforward vocal style leaves one in no doubt that Kryptos was not aiming to surprise anybody with this album. They’ve stuck to their roots, and in doing so, sound better than ever.
Wasting no time at all, ‘Mask of Anubis’ gets the album rolling. ‘Coils’ follows, following a similar groove, and leads into ‘Serpents’. After the intro riff in ‘Serpents’, the pace changes into a comfortable foot-tapping groove. Anthemic ‘Nexus’ comes next. The riffing in this song gets a little more interesting and the lead fills are memorable, but I feel that the guitar solos in both ‘Serpents’ and ‘Nexus’ sound forced in certain sections and could have used some more imagination.
‘Eternal Crimson Spires’, ‘Spellcraft’ and ‘Starfall’ leave me at a loss for words. No, seriously. I really cannot think of anything significant to say about these songs that make up a third of the album. They sound good, and follow in the footsteps of the preceding songs of the album. Fortunately, my personal favourite song of the album, ‘Visions of Dis’, introduces a refreshing deviation to the album. Unfortunately, it is also the penultimate song. Adopting a more progressive feel in structure, the song showcases some of the most fetching rhythmic structures in the album. The song isn’t as predictable as most of the other songs on the album in terms of melody or song structure. ‘The Isle of Voices’, a beautiful, mellow, acoustic instrumental song draws the curtains on the album. In a nutshell, there is nothing fresh about ‘Coils of Apollyon’ save the quality of production. Kryptos have maintained their direction and style of song writing over the years. If you’re a Kryptos fan or even an Old School Thrash/Melodic metal fan, this album is a must listen. If you’re not, well, then, it’s not.
