Cryptae’s debut full-length album, “Nightmare Traversal,” is a malevolent exploration through ghastly sounding landscapes of unspeakable surreal brutality. These experimental extreme metal musicians from the Netherlands prove to be an unconventional and fearsome force in the world of extreme music.
The band features members from Plague Organ, Imperial Cult and Dead Neanderthals, so just like with all of those bands you are going find that Cryptae is full of unpredictable and unyielding extreme ideas. Their abhorrent sounding death doom approach is what makes this album a very unique listening experience. The riffs are constructed in a chaotic manner and sound as though you are being crushed under the weight of this massive mountain of devastating distortion. I am not surprised that Cryptae is working with Sentient Ruin on the release of this album. If you want a sinister sounding release that flows with a tremendous amount of unfathomable sounding destruction, then I recommend any Sentient Ruin release without hesitation.
The album contains seven tracks full of abysmal atmospheric horror that looks to suffocate listeners in an aural cloud of fiendish musical creativity. On the opening track, “Nightmare Traversal,” the band begins with a cold and vile sounding atmosphere that pulls listeners slowly into the band’s bludgeoning world of gruesome sounding death doom. You feel as though your mind is being pulled in a variety of directions by the guitar and drum arrangements, thus you start to question your own mental sanity. On the second track, “Cryptic Passage,” the bands delivers a frantic sounding guitar composition and constructs this hectic maze of musical torment.
As the album progresses there is just no predicting where the band will go next with their experimental mindset. “Monastic Tomb,” is one track where I felt as though the band was leading listeners on this oppressive sounding pathway of distorted mind altering terror and then they throw you off a ledge into a black abyss of infinite doom on the next song, “Edifice.” The chaotic compositions on this album matched with the album’s horrifying themes demonstrates a band that wants listeners to not only get an extreme sounding release, but also wants to push them on the brink of having a psychological collapse.
In the end, Cryptae is exactly the band I would expect Sentient Ruin to be working with, because “Nightmare Traversal” is an album that does not fit into the generic mold of what most modern death metal bands are putting out these days. I will be honest and admit that I had to listen to this album a few times to really understand what was entering my ears, however, I respect the ambitious drive of this band and the album is definitely a monstrous sounding release that keeps you on the edge of your seat. If people thought that nightmares could not come to life, after listening to this album I think even Freddy Krueger would be overwhelmed with fear.
Check out the full album below:
Sentient Ruin bandcamp:
Enjoyed your review Robby.
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