Krypta – Krypta

Krypta
Krypta
Out: 25. October 25^th, 2024
Playing time: 40:25

Krypta is a Dark Metal band from the Ukrainian capital Kiev. Founded in 2014 by guitarist Dmytro Omelechko. He wanted to realise his musical visions. He wanted to focus on melody and musicality, without, however, adopting a specific genre. Each band member brought their own preferences to the compositions. As a result, the band’s sound ranges from jazz to funeral doom to brutal death metal. So far, only a demo with two songs (2018) has been released. The long-awaited debut album was released in October.

In the opener ‘Omerta’, the angelic vocals of Tetiana Tugolukova are initially accompanied by abysmally evil growls. Later, darker guitar sounds can also be heard and two singers growl in competition. The violin melody gives it a strong folk flavour. String instruments can also be heard in ‘Ftor’. But also beautiful guitar melodies. Of course, nothing changes in the interplay between the beauty and her two beasts. ‘Imya’ is initially dominated by clean guitars and electric piano. Even when the guitars kick in later, the heaviness is slightly less than before. The singer impresses above all with her vocal range. Even the very high notes come across very clearly. In contrast, ‘Petrykor’ seems almost epic. The drums provide a little more tempo. And Tetiana sometimes soars into the very high soprano range. Otherwise, she sings with a pleasantly dark timbre. ‘Uroboros’ starts much more calmly, once again you can hear string instruments. A beautiful Doom ballad with great guitar hooklines. Once again we hear an electric piano/string introduction on ‘Meridian’. Later, hard riffs dominate again. Some of the vocals seem upbeat, almost cheerful. The guitar melodies are similar in places. ‘Shal’ is a little less gloomy. Despite the evil growls that can be heard again and again. In ‘Shum’, we once again hear Epic Doom with a touch of folk. The interplay between violin and electric guitar is very beautiful.

The press release announced Krypta as a Dark Metal band. After listening to it several times, however, I agree more with the categorisation of the Encyclopaedia Metallum. Here we are talking about Gothic/Doom Metal. The figurehead is clearly singer Tetiana Tugolukova. I read somewhere that she has a vocal range of three octaves. Very impressive. And with her violin and viola she always brings in a Folk Rock feeling. Her growling vocal partners always create a dark atmosphere. If there is anything to criticise at all, then perhaps the lack of variety.

Krypta – Ftor: https://youtu.be/ire00aJFI-A?si=6ZBcw99iQp9Wz1xR

Lineup:

Dmytro Omelechko – Guitar
Yevhen Balytskyi – Guitar
Tetiana Tugolukova – Vocals, Violin, Additional keys
Roman Kostiuchenko – Vocals
Igor Grabin – Drums
Oleksandr Melnikov – Bass
Vladyslav Surnin – Keyboards

Track list:

• Omerta
• Ftor
• Imya
• Petrykor
• Uroboros
• Meridian
• Shal
• Shum