Kryptos is a heavy metal band from India formed in 1998, releasing seven albums to date – ‘Spiral Account’ (2004), ‘The Art Of Gemini’ (2008), ‘The Coils Of Apollyon’ (2012), ‘Burn Up The Night’ (2016), ‘Afterburner’ (2019), ‘Force Of Danger’ (2021), and ‘Decimator’ (2024).
Recognised as one of India’s premier heavy metal bands, Kryptos have supported some of the world’s biggest metal bands – bands such as Iron Maiden, Kreator and Testament, toured across Europe and in America, and performed twice at the iconic Wacken Open Air festival in Germany. And with a tour of Australia to come later this year, Kryptos is riding the crest of a wave – a wave that delivers nine songs across thirty-two fast and furious minutes! The band’s new album ‘Decimator’ is a fierce, full-on, and head bang-able affair with every song on offer appealing to thrash metallers as well as the metal traditionalists – ‘Sirens Of Steel’ launching their seventh album skywards with an incredible amount of energy…
…but only after a first forty-second stroll! The band are then at full tilt, powering forward with phenomenal purpose and intent – the headbangers of the world vigorously rocking their heads back and forth. The urgency is immense, the pace faster than local speed limits, Kryptos breaking the law with the album opener – the band remaining lawbreakers as ‘Fall To The Spectre’s Gaze’ enters the fray with ground shuddering force! Not to mention the fucking thunder, ‘Fall To The Spectre’s Gaze’ oozing a very strong traditional metal scent. Kryptos may be over four and a half thousand miles away from where heavy metal was born (the UK for anyone who still doesn’t know), but boy do the Bangalore metallers have the British metal sound perfectly matched! None more so than the NWOBHM-flavoured ‘Turn Up The Heat’ – the guitar tone echoing the early eighties and bands such as Angel Witch, Samson and Saxon.
An opening treble fizzing with electric energy, there’s just no stopping Kryptos as the band power on with ‘Electricity’ – the phenomenal purpose and intent heard earlier making an emphatic return! The head bang ability since ‘Decimator’ began has been top level, every listener, fan and follower savagely wrecking their necks just to keep pace with the band! ‘Solaris’ clocks in at only one and a half minutes in length and is a mellow, highly atmospheric instrumental giving everyone a short breather from the all-out foot-to-the-floor heavy metal heard so far – the title song ‘Decimator’ bustling into sight with a heavier feel than any of the songs heard up to this point. Kryptos keep their foot firmly planted on the old school heavy monitor here, surging forth with incredible intensity and a sky-high infectious level.
I tell ya readers, the band from Bangalore know how metal – and metal hard! ‘In The Shadow Of The Blade’ maintains the sensational traditional heavy metal on show, the infectious level along with the head bang ability has just shot through the fucking roof! Apart from the mid-album breather, my head hasn’t stopped rocking since ‘Decimator’ (the album) began – and is unlikely to stop any time soon, ‘Pathfinder’ coming alive with the most NWOBHM guitar riff the album has to offer – the ground shuddering force wobbling buildings and crumbling walls. The band have been around for over twenty-five years now, and have most definitely found their path in the realm of heavy metal, I raise a glass to you Kryptos and wish you well for another twenty-five years – ‘Decimator’ (the album) coming to a close with the longest song on offer ‘We Are The Night’. I say the longest in the loosest sense possible, ’cause ‘We Are The Night’ only clocks in at four and a half minutes in length – whereas every other song clocks in at under four! And what a finale ‘We Are The Night’ is – the band setting a stunning aura, the kind of aura that was prevalent during the eighties when the likes of Demon, Lee Aaron, Mötley Crüe and Stryper bridged the gap between heavy metal and hard rock. In fact, I did think ‘We Are The Night’ was a cover version of an eighties song, but after a brief internet search, I do believe it’s a Kryptos original.
Overall, a fast-paced thirty-two minutes of heavy metal thunder featuring an immensely high infectious level and a tonne of headbang ability.
TRACKLIST
Sirens Of Steel
Fall To The Spectre’s Gaze
Turn Up The Heat
Electrify
Solaris
Decimator
In The Shadow Of The Blade
Pathfinder
We Are The Night
Kryptos: Facebook
Release Year: 2024
Label: AFM Records
Category: Album
Country: India
Reviewed by Iron Mathew for Frenzy Fire and Metal-Roos.
