Kryptos - Decimator ★★★☆☆
Don your leather pajamas and jump on that hog. Idolising the flashing spikes in the night, Kryptos switches to a surprisingly different kind of gear - a much more melodic (and mellow) one at that.
Gone is the speed and nightly fervour. Now its the time for power chords and cyclic choruses. The mere 30-minute album comes across woefully one-dimensional.
Kryptos is a one-note wonder, doing well precisely what they do, and nothing much beyond. Nolan Lewis' vocals sound as raw and great as ever - but therein lies the problem: Decimator feels uninspired, merely refined.
There yet might be a hint of Thrash Metal somewhere around the edges (if there ever was to being with), but this one is Heavy Metal through and through.
Formed back in 1998, Kryptos isn't exactly a new kid on the block. They've opened for no less of a band than Iron Maiden itself back in their home country of India. So you could say they've been recognized.
Take few rungs off from Judas Priest and think about Air Raid, and you have the decided space that Kryptos wants to occupy. The newish habitus on the album does occasionally kick proper arse, but a great deal more variation and risk taking is needed for the next step for the band to become a reality.
The new direction isn't necessarily a turn for the worse by all means, but as is, it's simply not enough.
Good sh!t nonetheless!
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Let there be Mmmosh! ✊