Old school metal fans got a special treat this weekend when veteran metal act Kryptos released its latest album, Decimator. The band’s now seventh album, the nine-song record is an enjoyable work for any fan of the glory days of metal. That is due in no small part to the record’s featured musical arrangements. They will be discussed shortly. The lyrical themes that accompany said musical arrangements play their own important part to the record’s overall presentation and will be examined a little later. The record’s production puts the finishing touch to the whole and completes its picture. It will also be discussed later. Each item noted here is important in its own way to the whole of Decimator. All things considered they make the album an enjoyable offering for any vintage metal fan.
Decimator, the latest album from Kryptos, is a presentation that most metal fans will find enjoyable. That especially includes the band’s established audience base. This is due in no small part to the album’s featured musical arrangements. The arrangements in question are of note because, as noted already, of the old school approach taken throughout. From one song to the next, audiences can easily hear influence from the likes of Judas Priest and Iron Maiden and to a lesser degree, Grim Reaper what with the melodic heaviness. Taking such approach is nothing new for Kryptos. The band has made a career of making such classic style music. So musically, the album does not necessarily break any new ground for Kryptos. At the same time the arrangements do still manage to maintain their own identity separate from the works the band has crafted in its existing catalog. To that end, the arrangements are new even though their stylistic approach is not. This alone makes for reason enough for audiences to take in this album.
The lyrical themes featured throughout Decimator, are their own reason to hear the album. The album’s opener, ‘Sirens of Steel’ is proof of that. If the song’s lyric video is explanation enough (since the news release announcing the debut of the single and its video do not include an explanation behind the theme), it is a Sabaton style song in regard to its lyrics. It seemingly addresses the evil of the men who piloted the Messerschmitt war planes for the Nazi regime during World War II. This as the song opens with the very line, “Blitz through the skies/On the wings of the night/Enter the skirmish/We’re up for the fight/Visions of glory/It’s guns on command/Hell breaking loose/They’ll die by our hand.” The very use of the word blitz harkens to the Blitzkrieg, which was the infamous German bombing of Britain. Later in the song’s second verse, the song notes, “Squadrons of fury/Armadas of might/Guided by stars/We’ll conquer the tide/Raging inferno/Onward we raid/A frontal assault/The devil to pay/Valor and pride/Victory is ours/Torching the skies/ On wings of steel.” This certainly points to an inference of the song focusing on the blind rage and evil in the men who piloted those planes, taking so many innocent lives. If in fact that is what this song centers on, it is definitely an interesting piece that Sabaton fans will find interesting.
Speaking of warfare, the band offers another seemingly warfare-related song, only in a more fantasy type setting in the song’s title track. In the case of this song, front man Nolan Lewis sings of the Decimator, “Through the barren wastes of war-torn lands/A juggernaut of fire/Chaos on command/Menacing force of thundering steel/Blitz the sands of time/The final kill is close at hand/Certain death/A deadly strike/No remorse/A cosmic sacrifice/Worlds turn to dust/With gale force might/Relentless supremacy/Dominance in sight/Roaring through the dark/Vengeance unbound/Amidst the cataclysm/Colossal fury cracks the ground/Eradicate/Scorch the land/Terror storm/No fortress shall withstand/Plasma claws/Laser eyes/Technomorph/Machine god of the void/Crushing death/Pierce the skies/Decimate/Atomic sacrifice.” This sounds so much like lyrical content from many other metal acts of days gone by. Such a tribute to works from the band’s forebearers is sure to entertain plenty of audiences.
As if that is not enough, ‘We are The Night,’ the album’s closer, is yet another old school throwback (much like much of the lyrical content featured throughout the album). It is another song here that seems to simply celebrate the band being out on the stage with the audience. This is inferred as Lewis sings, “In the midnight hour/We come alive/Motor’s runnin’ hot/Our spirits rise/ ‘Neath the city lights and neon haze/Freedom’s in our sight/We break the cage/You know we’re gonna break the cage/Now/Under moonlit skies/Hearts ablaze/Senses burnin’ hot/Minds aflame/Soaring through the night/ We spread our wings/Feel the power surge in the night/Rush of blood/We’re up for the fight/Standin’ tall/We won’t back down/Hell for leather/We’re takin’ this town/We’ll take this town tonight.” The rest of the song continues in very similar lyrical fashion. Again, this is familiar territory for any true metal fan, as Judas Priest and so many others who paved that road for this and so many other metal acts have composed similar lyrical content about going from town to town, “taking over” with their music, just running the place so to speak. It is just as fun here as in the case of other songs on this album with similar content and as in the case of so many other songs from other bands. To that end, this is yet another example of what makes the lyrical content in Kryptos’ new album just as enjoyable as the record’s musical arrangements. All things considered there, the whole makes for plenty of reason for audiences to give this record a chance.
The overall content featured in Decimator is just part of the reason that audiences will enjoy the album. The record’s production does its own share to impress. Producer/mixer Jamie Elton is to be commended for his attention to detail as he worked behind the boards, balancing each element of each song’s construction. Thanks to his attention to detail, the record comes out sounding from beginning to end not only having that throwback presentation but overall sound from each musician’s performance and even in the vocals. In other words, the general presentation of Decimator proves just as positive as the overall content. Keeping that in mind, the whole makes Decimator a presentation that metal fans will agree deserves to be heard at least once.
Decimator, the forthcoming seventh album from Kryptos, is a mostly successful new offering from the veteran metal outfit. It is a work that most metal fans will find engaging and entertaining; especially vintage metal fans. That is proven in large part through its musical arrangements, which each exhibit influence of classic Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and other bands of their ilk. The lyrical themes that accompany that musical content is throwback in its own right, too, with all of the familiar vintage metal bombast. The record’s production ensures each song’s arrangement is expertly balanced, resulting in a positive aesthetic that is just as certain to engage and entertain audiences. Each item examined here is important in its own way to the whole of Decimator’s presentation. All things considered they make the album an enjoyable addition to this year’s field of new metal and hard rock records that is worth hearing at least once.
Decimator is scheduled for release July 5 through AFM Records. More information on the album is available along with all of Kryptos’ latest news at https://www.facebook.com/KryptosIndia.
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