Review Summary: Kryptos keep their impressive winning streak alive, and serve as a happy place for fans of RIFFS... but they also make some odd decisions production wise that keep this from being on par with their previous releases.
In case you haven't noticed, I fricken love this band. How can you not root for a metal band from... checks notes... India that makes 100% kick ass authentic metal? Not just a one off fantastic release, but Kryptos have done what SO MANY bands fail at, and that's releasing three quality albums in a row. Having said that, there is one particular decision made on this album that has this listener concerned.
But for now, let's focus on the good. First off, if you need an intro to their sound, its basically a tribute to the best of the 1980's traditional metal with modern raspy vocals thrown in, and it works! That's no different here, as there were times I swore I was reliving vicariously through a young teenager in 1986 listening to Somewhere in Time for the first time. It felt incredible.
Starting off with an absolute slapper as they always do, Raging Steel is fast, cheesy (was that a ***ing fighter plane in the background?), and should include a caution not to listen to while driving because there's a good chance you'll be 30 over by the time the song has finished.
Hot Wired is nearly as frantic paced, and Dawnbreaker is a fantastic slightly uptempo traditional metal romp that shows a little more variety than was previously seen from this band, with a more organic sound. This all is good, but the next song has to be heard to believed...
From the top rope comes Thunderchild, crushing you with a frantic behemoth of a riff that relents only just enough to take a breath before blasting off to ludicrous speed the second half of the song. I played this song for my 6 year old son before his hockey game and he grew an envious dose of chest hair and was windmill head banging like a mad man, he looked like a tiny Dee Snyder. This is without a doubt the best track Kryptos has ever written, and is completely unfair to the next song, Nighthawk, which is pretty damn good and energetic in it's own right.
Unfortunately, the next song drags the pace down to a point Force of Danger never quite is able to recover from. Omega Point drones on for far too long and has two primary riffs. One excellent sounding, the other bland... and they chose the wrong riff to ride on for the majority of nearly six and a half minutes.
This is disappointing as the first five tracks are actually superbly entertaining and I think the final two would have been better without the traffic jam of a song (Omega Point) getting in the way. The title track is good traditional metal fun, but is not able to reinvigorate the listener enough to make the comparitively slow closer "Shadowmancer" feel like a proper taking the foot off the gas moment.
Another unfortunate note, the production absolutely must be commented on. To put it bluntly, it's bafflingly ***ty. I can truly respect paying tribute to the metal gods in trying to relive the moments of the first time spinning Wasted Years on the record player, but just because your influences came from 1986 does not mean it needed to be recorded with studio equipment from 1986. It results in a sound that seems focused on clarity, with little bass and high treble, and only occasionally works to help the overall sound, Thunderchild being the best example of it working.
Yet, all that said, this is still overall a great album. The production be damned, there is still only one dud on the entire record, which is a testament to Kryptos' ability to write killer songs at a consistency that deserves applause. Also, if you've read this far, just stop now and go play Thunderchild... potential song of the year my friends.
Cheers!
