Kryptograf : "Kryptonomicon"

For the 420th post of the year, I had to go with a stoner metal band. This came out back in March, but it's essential to catch up with these guys, as they prove that more music comes out of Norway than just black metal. These guys are just as invested in music from the '60s as they are in more traditional metal. The first track alone carries a wide range of dynamics. They go from a metal gallop into a hazy mellow jam. The vocals are more Ian Gillan than Ozzy. Their guitarist rips, so I am impressed right off the bat. 

"The Blade" boogies with riffs that remind me more of early Judas Priest or Thin Lizzy than Black Sabbath, and thus, the delineation is made between stoner metal and doom. Nothing is really dark or mournful, thus it does not move with the depressive lethargy that should possess doom. The title track is, in fact, oddly a fist-pumping party anthem of sorts. They do ebb down to a gloomier mood coming out of the more vibrant riff, but such is their way with dynamics. They also do not get carried away with long, jammy songs.

"You and I" is more along the lines of Queens of the Stoneage. It carries a similar attitude in its strut. "From Below" is the first song where they shift gears into more of a doom lumber, but then shift smoothly out of it into a more Mastodon-like riff. "Lost at Sea" has a similar feel with moodier chords ringing out to shift the tone a little.  "The Gates" closes the album out. At 8 minutes along, it's the most sprawling song on the album. Marginally darker and more psychedelic than the previous song, there are still touches of Mastodon in how the vocals interplay with the music. These guys excelled at making the album they set out to make. I will give it a 9.5 and see how it grows on me. 

pst420