KRYPTOS — The Coils of Apollyon (review)

KRYPTOS — The Coils of Apollyon album cover

Album · 2012 · Melodic Death Metal

4/5 · 2013-10-25
Time Signature

Nexus legion...

Genre: melodic thrash metal / traditional metal

Another strong name from the Indian metal scene, Kryptos released their third full-length last in the form of ”The Coils of Apollyon”. They may be primarily known outside of India as one of the bands who were featured in Sam Dunn's ”Global Metal”, but this album shows us what the band really ought to be known for – namely, their music.

The gritty black and white cover art might suggest black metal-oriented music, but that is not at all the case, for the Bangalore-based quartet explores much more melodic pastures. Drawing on thrash metal and NwoBHM-inspired traditional metal, Kryptos' music is slightly akin to melodeath in expression, but much more solid and compelling than what melodeath has developed into in its current watered down form. In other words, Kryptos have struck a nice balance between melody and aggression capturing the best of traditional and modern metal.

The opening track 'The Mask of Anubis' opens up with a melodic riff on top of fierce thrash metal drums and accompanied by slightly harsh vocals, and 'The Coils of Apollyon' continues in the same vein albeit slightly more oriented towards melodeath, and also features a nice moshing-friendly bridge. 'Serpent Mage' is a lesson in Maiden-esque twin guitar harmonies, while 'Nexus Legion' taps into the aesthetics of dak powermetal, and 'Eternal Crimson Spires' offers heaviness, melancholy, doom, and gloom and has an almost epic feel to it which is not unlike that of the mighty While Heaven Wept. 'Spellcraft' increases the speed and takes us back into melodeath, or melothrash, territory, and 'Starfall' is another Maiden-inspired track. 'Vision of Dis' is with its eight minutes of running time perhaps the magnum opus of the album. After a couple of heavy, but melodic verses, complete with twin guitar harmonies, a more groovy riff kicks in, whose heaviness is in a nice contrast with the following uptempo melothrash passages.

The production of this album is awesome. The gutiars are crunchy, but there is a nice and fat bottom to the overall mix. The drums are well-defined and the bass is nicely audible. The vocals are not too dominant in the ix, which allows the listener to enjoy the instrumental aspect of the album. In terms of musicianship and performance, there i nothing to criticize about this album.

”The Coils of Apollyon” is among a number of albums released over the last couple of years which have helped restore my faith in melodeath-oriented music. The Gothenburg sound which has otherwise dominated the genre had become so watered down and pop-oriented towards the end of the 2000s that it was hard to imagine that it was the likes of Carcass, At the Gates, and Arch Enemy that had spawned it. But it seems that a number of artists have moved the focus back to melody and metal and away from pop music. I do not know if Kryptos affiliate themselves with melodeath, but their combination of thrash metal and melodic metal definitely capture the same things that I like about early melodeath: the aggression and the melody.

In any case, Kryptos' ”The Coils of Apollyon” is massively melodic and fiercely aggressive, and, importantly, perfectly balanced between the two. Fans of Iron Maiden, ”Slaughter of the Soul”-era At the Gates, ”Heartwork” and ”Surgical Steel” by Carcass, Iced Earth, Arch Enemy, and Kreator's more recent output are bound to find something they like on the fine metal release that is ”The Coils of Apollyon” by Kryptos.