Krypts - Open The Crypt

Krypts - Open The Crypt

Open The Crypt is Krypts debut demo which was released in 2009 by the band themselves. These guys are an old school death metal band hailing from Finland. A few years ago, I decided to check out the old school death metal scene. After hearing bands such as Obituary and Autopsy for the first time, I dismissed the whole old school death metal genre as being worse than R&B. I thought it was all generic, slow and boring. A couple of years later I decided to re-visit the old school death metal genre in the form of Krypts. After hearing this demo, I realised that I made a huge mistake a year ago. This demo has really opened my eyes to the world of old school death metal. It was nothing like I’ve ever heard before (which was a good thing). This band gave me one hell of a surprise!

This demo features everything you could possibly expect from an old school death metal band. The guitars are down tuned and have a vintage sound to them. The music itself is distorted raw and bone crushingly atmospheric. Also the vocalist has chosen to keep it “old school” by only utilizing growls. There are no screams/shreiks or vocal changes in this demo, but that doesn’t automatically make it boring. The drumming have a snappy distorted sound to them, the drum skins sound like they are done up tight (really tight). It almost sounds like he is hitting tin cans. The recording quality of this demo is below average, just to emphasise all the other aspects to their music. This is what I imagine biker gangs listen to because there is nothing juvenile about this release. This is just 23 minutes of serious death metal. The only catch is that this demo was released in 2009, because I think that Open the Crypt could easily be passed off as a demo from the late 1980’s.

What makes this band different from the others? Because it’s clear that these guys are inspired to be the very bands that I loathe so how is this different? The main thing about this band that makes them so unique is that they aren’t afraid to push the boundaries of the genre. They have opened up a whole new dimension to this, once boring genre. There aren’t many old school bands out there that I’ve heard to go all out like these guys. I’m not sure if it’s because other old school bands prefer not to travel down the same path as these guys or if they are too scared to make a move. Either way, I truly believe that this is as extreme as the old school genre is ever going to become.

It is almost too hard to comprehend how powerful and energetic this band is compared to the rest. The drumming and guitar work are both extremely quick and powerful. The music is quite technical for an old school death metal band but the best thing about it is that they also have a sense of song structure in their music as well. Unlike a lot of the incoherent/mindless banging that goes on in more modern death metal but somehow, this is equally if not even more extreme. The best thing I like about this album is that it’s not the same damn pace all the way through the whole demo, and this is the very thing that makes these guys stand out from the rest. There are times when the music is slow and raw/heavy and there are times when the music is extremely fast an energetic. This is essentially what makes this band stand head and shoulders above most other old school death metal bands.

Overall, I think that this band has the potential to revolutionize the whole genre. This band is definitely a treat to all those who heard it. I think that this will appeal to all extreme metal fans from deathcore to old school death metal fans. This is one of the best death metal releases out there and it would be a shame if this band was to pass unnoticed and remain unknown. What a better way to start releasing music than to release something like this. I recommend the opening track on this demo Day Of Reckoning because it displays the sheer awesomeness of this band and what we might be in for in the future. Krypts has the potential to be one of the biggest and badest old school death metal bands around. I give Krypts’s Open the Crypt a 17/20.