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CRYPT SERMON
The Stygian Rose

Dark Descent (2024)
Rating: 8/10

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based doomsters Crypt Sermon has risen from a five year silence with their third full-length studio outing, The Stygian Rose. As expected, you get hit by six epic doom metal compositions, the shortest (‘Heavy Is The Crown Of Bone’) runs for five minutes, the longest (‘The Stygian Rose’) has a duration of a whopping 11-minutes.

Lyrically, the combo conjures up some great poetry, as showcased in eight-minute opener ‘Glimmers In The Underworld’ where vocalist Brooks Wilson croons of “Turning, burning wheels of eyes, Flaming in the sky”, and “I’ll die with my eyes open wide just to get a good look at Hell”. It’s all very epic and grandiose yet with booming intensity of a brewing storm with the hefty bass and percussion combo.

I adore how the Pennsylvanian pack conjures images of dripping candles amidst old ruins on mist-enshrouded nights, made all the more eventful by the keys of Tanner Anderson whose touch is layered in melancholy, especially on ‘Scrying Orb’ which is one of the bands lighter shades of gloom as it edges towards shock horror rock. The keyboards refuse to dominate proceedings though, which is a good thing, as is the slightly unorthodox feel of songs such as ‘Thunder (Perfect Mind)’ with its progressive elements and clever structures.

This is no boggy journey, Crypt Sermon instead construct sharp yet overcast slabs of black majesty resulting in memorable traditional metal, like on ‘Down In The Hollow’ which boasts a killer riff and timely gallop. The genre has become somewhat fogged over the last few decades due to too much occult driven retro fluff and stoned mulch, but Crypt Sermon takes a different, welcoming route built upon the foundations of, say, Candlemass and Solitude Aeturnus with smooth, silken tapestries of brooding landscapes caressed by sullen riffs.

The child-like cover art, provided by Wilson, adds nostalgia, creating a beckoning, magical world behind wrought iron gates ’neath ashen skies, although the crisp production never really lets the album resort to murkiness. It’s obvious that the band has taken the time to concoct the hymns on offer, my only quibble being that it only occasionally drifts towards a sense of eeriness throughout. The Stygian Rose is still an emphatic return, although their 2019 platter The Ruins Of Fading Light remains my favourite.

Neil Arnold

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