There are plenty of really good metal records that arrive each year that are worth your time and money. There’s a smaller subset of releases that are worthy of considering as that year’s best, those that rise above the onslaught of music that arrives during a 12-month period. Then there are the albums that sit in rarified air, music so powerful that is rises to a special level very few recordings ever achieve.
“The Stygian Rose,” the third record by Philly-based epic doom creators Crypt Sermon, is one of those that sits above the rest, a collection that has a comet-into-earth impact on first listen. It just ripples even harder each subsequent visit, and if you’re like me, there will be many of those. Over six tracks and 45 minutes, the band—vocalist Brooks Wilson, guitarists Steve Jansson and Frank Chin, bassist Matt Knox, keyboardist Tanner Anderson, drummer Enrique Sagarnaga—creates a story about an unnamed character inspired by Paschal Beverly Randolf, an American spiritualist and sex magician whose views on gender identity were well before his time. Here, the character longs to find his possibly dead/definitely lost female equal, who is believed to be waiting for him beyond in the hollow. It makes for a dramatic, breathtaking album that builds expertly, causing your heart to race with their passionate, classic serving of heavy metal that’ll stone you in your place.
“Glimmers in the Underworld” emerges from beyond, tearing open with sprawling doom and Wilson’s dramatic singing at an apex, calling, “I’ll die with my eyes open just to get a good look at hell.” Guitars erupt and flood over, energy jolting as the vocals get grimier, melting into the cold. The chorus swims through the murk, Wilson conjuring demons as he wails, “They’re right behind you through the black, black, black!” “Thunder (Perfect Mind)” feels humid, hazy leads stretching like lightning, the singing digging deeper into the dirt, Wilson singing, “As above, so below, there’s so much more to know.” The chorus fires up again as fiery playing erupts, glorious energy bustling as the keys leave an ice skid behind. “Down in the Hollow” is misty as it charges up, Wilson’s singing feeling both muscular and scathing, dark and ominous melodies working up your spine. The playing charges up as the fluid assault pulls you under, Wilson lashing, “They know my name, she knows my name,” as chugging punches leave deep wounds.
“Heavy Is the Crown of Bone” opens with hazy guitars, and then the pace chugs and thrashes, growing more epic in scope along the way. Glimmering guitars thicken the magical essence, and a simple chorus rouses and sticks to the bone, continually coming back for more, always sweeping with majestic lure. “Scrying Orb” is a standout track, much like “Christ Is Dead” from “The Ruins of Fading Light” or “Heavy Riders” from “Out of the Garden,” that one track that stands out above the rest and makes a case for one of the modern era’s best metal songs. The playing is mystical, pushing through darkened, web-tangled rooms, Wilson calling, “I know I should be more afraid, but I have come back for you.” The chorus is a killer and will stick in your head for days, Wilson singing, “I have heard the cries coming from the other side of the scrying orb.” Guitars fire up as the temperatures rise, coming to a dramatic, gothy end. The 11:10-long closing title track opens with piano dripping, the cosmos opening its jaws, dark guitars mixing with keys that leave an ominous glaze. “The black bloom will be restored,” Wilson insists, the guitars picking up and jarring anew, the melodies mixing with eerie fogginess. The power folds as the playing drives slower, the spirits rise, and everything fades into black.
The mysteries woven into “The Stygian Rose” and the top-notch playing elevate Crypt Sermon to the modern throne of epic doom metal with this, their finest hour. You can take on this album and ignore the messages entirely and still walk away completely fulfilled by a record that is a force of nature from front to back. If you delve into the words and their meanings, and you should, you get an even more full-bodied experience, an album that will stick with you not only the remainer of the year, but likely spanning your lifetime as a listener. This music is that transcendent.
For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/CryptSermon
To buy the album, go here: https://www.darkdescentrecords.com/shop/
For more on the label, go here: https://www.facebook.com/DarkDescentRecords/
Meat Mead Metal 