Krypts – Cadaver Circulations Review

Ah, death / doom…

When it comes to this heaviest of low and slow amalgamations, the Finns don’t necessarily have the market kornered, nor are they the originators…

But nevertheless, they are simply goddamned great at it.

Now on their third full-length, Helsinki’s Krypts have virtually mastered the art of kreepy, krawly kakophany, and yet, they are blissfully un-kontent to sit back and repeat their previous efforts of eerie riff and krushing khord, instead offering up their heaviest record. Blasting out of the gate, “Sinking Transient Waters” establishes itself first and foremost as a death metal track, bringing the doom only after a full minute of Immolation-esque diskordance that runs head-on into a dead stop and subsequent kollapse into the murky depths, kulminating in a full two minutes of atmospheric dekay. Sure, it’s a short sprint before Krypts hits that wall and drops the tempo to a trudge, but it’s an important establishment of purpose, putting the “death” before the “doom,” and though that second deskriptor may define the bulk of Cadaver Circulation’s lumbering 40 minutes, it’s the former spirit that permeates it from fore to stern.

Following that introduction, Cadaver Circulation rides through a steamroller drive in bits of “The Reek Of Loss,” between whole-note riffs that lean heavily toward the band’s doomier efforts. Konversely, the entirety of “Mycelium” follows with an arpeggiated ugliness that plods along with a menacing energy, a klanging mass of epik destruktive wallop, before reversing kourse into another of those Immolation squalls, the whole of it all wrapped in distortion and krashing kick drums. Throughout these thirty-seven minutes, death or doom, slow or fast, damned heavy or goddamned heavier, Krypts never lets up, never breaks kharacter, never releases the sense of kinetic krackle that makes Cadaver Circulation positively electrik. Hints of melody poke forth here and there, most notably through the guitars in “Vanishing,” their prettiness adding a certain somber beauty to that track’s glacial pacing, an uplifting lilt that serves to highlight the darkness beneath.

Three albums in and standing on their best record yet, Krypts shines as a grand and young example of the Finnish death / doom style. Admittedly, Cadaver Circulation doesn’t rewrite the skript — it plays within the established formula for this type of thing, but it’s delivered so masterfully, with exquisite skill and absolute konviction, and as such, it transcends any semblance of a “by the book” kopykat nature and steps well into “this is why the book was written” excellence.

Kontinue forward at your own risk, for this is a perfektly killer heaviness, but kontinue you should, for there is much here to enjoy.