Back in 2021, Cryptosis released their monstrous debut, Bionic Swarm. It was something of a revelation, for their previous incarnation, Distillator, were distinctly average. The fact that they had taken stock, revised their approach and regrouped with a new name deserved plaudits if just for the bravery. That they pulled out a fine album was the icing on the Extreme Metal cake.
Cryptosis – Celestial Death (Century Media Records)
Release Date: 7 March 2025
Words: Paul Hutchings
It has been a while, but the Dutch outfit is back with their follow-up, Celestial Death. It is another intriguing and explosive release that has built upon lessons learnt from Bionic Swarm. The writing is even more intricate, the music controlled and technical, and overall, Celestial Death is another great stride forward.
Celestial Death certainly has a cinematic feel, with sweeping soundscapes that flow organically despite the obvious technical and digital assistance.
“We wrote a lot of different material. We had so many ideas, which eventually ended up on a slightly different path – a more cinematic path, I would say. This new record has a much darker atmosphere”. The words of bassist Frank te Riet.
“We learned a lot from our debut album. The biggest lesson we learned was how to create songs that really come together as complete pieces, rather than just combining riffs,” says singer/guitarist Laurens Houvast.
Lyrically, Cryptosis draw a line between commentary on present-day horrors and the limitless chaos of the future. Aided by a stunning piece of artwork on the cover by Eliran Kantor, this is an album that captures the imagination and draws in fiction with personal stories.
At 42 minutes, it is a relatively easy listening experience, with songs generally fitting to the four-five-minute format. The absence of sprawling epics does not detract, for the band has been able to capture the atmosphere and emotion necessary to truly appreciate their work.
The integration of synths and programming into their music does not do any damage, and on tracks like Static Horizon, layers are added to the band’s sound.
That is not to say that they have moved away from their Death Metal flavours, for this is still aggressively bone-crunching at every level.
The fiery opener Faceless Matter flows out of the intro, Prologue – Awakening rages with intensity, all bristling riffage and screaming vocals. Alongside Houvast and te Riet, drummer Marco Prij is now in the top division for skin battering, his double kick piledriving home.
Whilst the band sit very much in the Technical Death Metal stream, they refuse to be pigeonholed and drift into Black Metal and Thrash elements like a learner driver on the motorway. Their two longer tracks, The Silent Call and Reign Of Infinite do not drag, propelled forward with a real venom yet all the while displaying the crafted approach which has seen the transformation of this band in recent times.
Utilising orchestration, synths and swathes of keys provides Celestial Death with a different sound and style to Bionic Swarm, whilst retaining an earthy crunch which keeps everything grounded. The refusal of Cryptosis to compromise whilst incorporating a hybrid mix of sounds is to be commended.
By the time you reach the demonic thrashing of Cryptosphere, you will have concluded that Cryptosis has upped their game once more. Taking things to the next level is not easy, but on Celestial Death, Cryptosis have certainly increased their stock.
“We want to show the diversity of the band,” says te Riet. “We all have different interests and influences, and we wanted to give that as big a platform as we could.”
For their sophomore release, Celestial Death is, indeed, as good as you could have anticipated.
