Remnants of Expansion

Over the last four years, Krypts' sophomore full length has cemented itself in my listening rotation. I can't get enough of its gloomy death/doom atmosphere that is especially appropriate for the long, dark months of winter. This is the second full length from this Finnish outfit, whom I've been following since the release of their demo. The first album didn't really do much for me, as I recall it being a lot more straight forward. Thus, "Remnants of Expansion" really surprised me when I first heard it.

The album opens up with its lengthiest track, "Arrow of Entropy," which clocks in at 11 minutes. This song takes its time and has a lot of breathing room, but it never feels like it's meandering around. There's a build up to some more mid paced, double bass dominated death metal parts. Krypts make good use of dissonant chords that help emphasize the ethereal slow sections between. They layer in some nice lead melodies which further add some more desolate sounds into the mix.

Dark Descent Records has put out some really phenomenal death/doom records over the last decade, including the sole albums by Anhedonist and Spectral Voice. This record definitely has a lot in common with both, yet it maintains a uniquely Finnish sound. The second track, "The Withering Titan" starts off with some ritualistic sounding moans, and similar eerie vocals are used by their labelmates. This song builds up to some blasting sections, but it still has this very ominous tone that keeps it all together as one coherent song. They don't quite go as full diSEMBOWELMENT like some other bands, but the instrumental title track has traces of it.

Finland has a rich history of death metal that has its own unique characteristics, and Krypts are at the forefront of the modern Finnish scene as far as I'm concerned. Bands like Rippikoulu pushed that heavy Finnish death metal sound into the doomiest of territories back in the early 90's, and I have no doubt that Krypts take influence from them. Unlike a lot of those classic Finnish albums, the production here sounds more refined, but it retains the proper atmosphere. The drums sounds massive in both the simpler parts, and also cut through well during the busier blast sections, not to mention they have a nice amount of reverb. Likewise, the guitars, bass, and vocals all sound just as huge, utilizing reverb and layers. The last track, "Transfixed," contains everything from more ominous vocal chants, to more haunting leads, and you can really appreciate how well all these parts and layers breath over each other.

Surprisingly, this album is only 34 minutes long. It says what is has to in a short amount of time, especially for a death/doom record. It offers a lot of variety without any wacky juxtaposition. Instead, Krypts masterfully utilize the momentum of each part to flow to the next, no matter if they're breaking away to slower territory, or if they're building towards some pure death metal moments. The artwork for this record perfectly represents what their music sounds like, capturing that dismal feeling from the cold northern skies. The album they released after this is great too, but I would recommend "Remnants of Expansion" over it if you're new to the band.

Transitioning more into the realms of doom/death as compared to the more straightforward death metal on “Unending Degradation,” Krypt’s second album merges the pulverizing gloom of their first album with a much more developed sound, sharpened and solidified like dagger-point stalactites. The album is certainly a step up from the band’s first release, and provides not only a deathly atmosphere that seals the listener in Krypt’s starless miasma, but some highly effective compositions that avoid the relative monotony of their previous work.

The fusion of doom metal and death metal on this album is effective and at its best crushing, especially considering that the great strength of Krypts’ previous releases was their penchant for atmospherics. This is immediately clear from “Arrow of Entropy,” a song that traverses a variety of soundscapes but lurks primarily in the desolation of its haunting, wailing sustains and skull-splitting tom-driven sections. The churning, suffocating guitar work of “The Withering Titan” is reminiscent in the best possible way to contemporaries like Ritual Necromancy or Grave Miasma, and the greater focus on the band’s doomy components allows these moments of roiling death metal fury to truly shine. The drumming on this album is some of its most powerful instrumentation, with a great deal of variety characterizing the percussion on this album. The slow, pounding beat that opens this release is a commanding, primordial smolder, while other points of the album showcase a strong grasp of faster beats and seething double-kicks. The bass rumbles animal-like over and under the guitars, and is striking feature of Krypts’ sound that I am glad to see has remained an important component of the music. A particularly striking portion of the album is its title track: the opening is a sparse, throbbing sustain that unexpectedly devolves into an eerie clean guitar, morphing afterwards into a poisonous, drudging beat that eventually fades into oblivion – a truly great interlude before splitting the listener’s spine with the staccato opening to “Entrailed to the Breaking Wheel.” While “Transfixed” is not the strongest closer, the album is well-paced and each song offers something distinct to this release.

The vocals on the album are a captivating element of its sound – an admirably clear, unhallowed, throaty roar that does not necessarily vary in tone very much but occasionally raises the song’s malevolence to a greater pitch, such as at the roughly midway point of "Withering Titan." This especially is a sign of the development of Krypts’ sound, with the instruments working together and playing across each other in a way that makes the impact of the compositions on “Remnants” a truly violent force. “Remnants of Expansion” is a solid foray into the realms of death/doom, and the band’s excellent attention to crafting an atmosphere bloom in this diseased soil. Far superior to their debut, the cohesion of all instruments and the cavernous vocal performance make for a monstrous piece whose unholy aura is worth returning to. While it is not composed of entirely unforgettable material, the album’s combination of dingy gloom and at-times pulverizing vehemence is certainly appealing, and is a welcome evolution of their sound.


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