Cryptosis – Celestial Death Review

[Cover art by Eliran Kantor]

You like thrash metal, right? And you love all things space, don’t you? Of course you do, you fucking nerd. Look where you are right now. If the idea of space thrash doesn’t tickle at least a gherkin-sized bit of your pickle, there’s really no reason for you to be visiting this website.

Cryptosis returns with its sophomore dose of thrashing goodness in the form of Celestial Death. This Dutch trio comfortably sits alongside the likes of Terminalist and Cryptic Shift in the category of modern bands making killer space metal. If you happened to catch our Most Anticipated Albums of 2025 articles, you may recall that I mentioned the lead singles from Celestial Death hinted at a greater role for the mellotron and synths among Cryptosis’ work compared to what was on Bionic Swarm. That hint was fully confirmed to be true upon a thorough listen. While the synths are more prominent and consistently used, they aren’t utilized in a singular way.

Tracks seven through nine are an exemplary microcosm of what the expanded synth work can add to the band’s output. The opening to “Reign Of Infinite” is a blitz of fiery tremolo-driven thrash, but when the song opens up to create more space, the synths come in, creating a sci-fi horror effect. Throughout its near six minutes, the song builds, stomps and fights to feel massive without a bloated runtime. “Absent Presence” promptly follows with a slow pummel. It has a soft, slower intro before the heaviness returns at a trudging stomp more akin to something you would expect to hear on Mariner, with well-timed spacy plonks of keys that feel open and exploratory. “In Between Realities” closes out this little run by proffering the cheesiest dose of keys on the whole album. The opening to the song sounds like something that would’ve been on an early King Diamond album before it cuts into a tight thrashing rhythmic assault that pops a touch of elasticity into the guitars here and there.

There are three instrumental tracks in the form of the intro (“Prologue – Awakening”), interlude (“Motionless Balance”) and closing track (“Coda – Wandering Into The Light). All three rely heavily, if not solely, on the synths and mellotron that help to create an atmosphere and a sense of a full story arc for the listening experience. While this review has focused quite a bit on the influence of synths, you needn’t worry that the band has softened or forgotten how to slice and dice with razor-sharp thrash. All of the previously mentioned tracks have a potent attack mode that goes with the atmospherics. Songs like “Ascending,” “Faceless Matter” and “In Between Realities” all zero in on being more aggressive for the full runtime. The non-traditional instruments certainly add some color, but speed and aggression are the primary drivers. Celestial Death sits firmly in the space thrash chair, but there are certain moments that let the listener peek into the band’s influences a bit more. “The Silent Call” has a blasting intro that downshifts into a series of tremolo runs, but the synth backing makes the whole affair feel more like a particularly hostile symphonic black metal song that’s raising a laser sword to the moon. Similarly, the final non-instrumental song, “Cryptosphere,” has a sped-up trad riff and a flair for drama and triumph that channels the spirit of power metal.

The band made a conscious effort to retain everyone behind the scenes from their debut for this album. Ultimately, Celestial Death is a logical progression of what Cryptosis started on Bionic Swarm. They’ve upped the ante on the sense of the dramatic and leaned into building more atmosphere but they haven’t forgotten the value of their tech-tinged thrash being their main purpose. If the debut worked for you, there’s no reason to think album number two shouldn’t scratch the same itch just as effectively.