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CRYSTAL VIPER
The Silver Key

Listenable (2024)
Rating: 6/10

Since forming in 2003, Polish headbangers Crystal Viper have become veterans of the scene, and with full-length studio album number nine have cemented their place further as Euro metal royalty. However, in my opinion, the combo has never matched their debut 2007 platter The Curse Of Crystal Viper, and although The Silver Key is a strong record the album hasn’t bewitched me in spite of heavy rotation.

Marta Gabriel’s vocals remain potent although at times she seems buried in the mix, which is a shame. On the title track I expected her siren call to be very much at the forefront, and although it’s a steely and anthemic it feels generally flat and I’m wondering if the fact that the entire rhythm section has been changed has something to do with this. Drummer Kuba Galwas is less thunderous than Cederick Forsberg, and although he is still a fine percussionist his style is more contemporary in my opinion. Having said that, the album still boasts a good number of powerful songs, particularly the CD bonus track ‘Gods Of Thunder Of Wind And Of Rain’ with its atmospheric build up and epic strides driven by the axe work of Lukasz “Andy Wave” Halczuch.

Even so, The Silver Key has its dips too. ‘Heading Kadath’ is just hideously glossy in design and just generic Euro metal that tepidly grasps for power metal stature, while ‘The Key Is Lost’ is another colourless heap of grey modern drizzle, the sound almost mechanical in its drive. In contrast, ‘Old House In The Mist’ is a steady rocker, although again it lacks weight, and that’s the bugbear of the show. Crystal Viper quite simply lacks bite and oomph, preferring instead to embark on too many unconvincing missions that can be all too predictable and frail.

Crystal Viper refuses, although I’m not sure if intentionally, to be the power house they always promised to be. Listen to ‘Book Of The Dead’ for an example of the rather frail guitar sound, no doubt affected by the production. In contrast, ‘Cosmic Forces Overtake’ is a rampant beast of a track sporting more grit in vocal, drum and axe work.

The Silver Key is a mixed bag of uncomplicated heavy metal built mostly upon nifty strides, except subtle ballad ‘Wayfaring Dreamer’ which shows what sort of emotions Marta Gabriel can stir when given license. Sure, Crystal Viper remains quite a force within the realm, but I’m just not an ardent follower of their steely yet uneven wagon of metal.

Neil Arnold

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