We’re nearing the end of 2024. Minds collectively swimming. Gasping for air. The 50-odd records we’re still getting to know in one hand. The few records we’ve decided are our anchor this year in the other. Confusing times, my friend.
Not so, though, with this Cryptorium record, Descent Into Lunacy. There’s something to be said for the inherent draw of the simple slap. The brutal buzzsaw. The gurgled gore. I’ve spent days – nay, weeks – deftly dissecting this new Thy Catafalque. To put that aside, even if momentarily, and dive headfirst into this … it’s a welcome reprieve.
What this is – this Descent Into Lunacy – is 30 minutes of Dismember and Entombed inspired mania. The appeal isn’t so much in the aesthetic. That sound has traveled broadly. No doubt, the “Similar Artists” tab on Metal Archives for either of those bands must be, well, endless. Instead, the appeal is in how they have translated that appreciation for the source material into music with its own force.
The more memorable songs are the shortest of the short – the cutting ripper “Inner Decay” and the lumbering “Mournful Dawn.” Because of the stark change in pace, the latter makes the more immediate impression. But the truth is that there is no dud here: just varying degrees of “well, that was fun, let’s play that again.”
And the simple fun here is the selling point. By year’s end, I – and you – have amassed a library of music we could never hope to listen to while we work. Work is an inherent challenge to the bond we develop with that library. In that sense, Cryptorium’s Descent Into Lunacy is a cheat code. Yes, dedicated listening is always preferred. But in a pinch, if you’re looking for something new to dig into, you can’t always reach for the latest Thy Catafalque or Ihsahn. Crass as it might be, you are inevitably looking to the uncomplicated but spirited, a category befitting this Cryptorium, to our fortune.
