Reviews: Crypt Sermon, REZN, 96 Bitter Beings, New Horizon (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

Crypt Sermon - The Stygian Rose (Dark Descent Records)

Savatage, Savatage and Savatage. I repeated the name of this incredible band through the last two Crypt Sermon albums, as well as Candlemass and Cathedral, but on this third release the legacy of one of American’s finest epic metal bands is even more pronounced. Much of the comparison to Savatage is drawn to this NWOTHM/Doom based act having a keyboard player and gruff vocalist and while that was Jon Oliva, here it’s Tanner Anderson on keys, creating gothic atmospheres and occult themes and Brooks Wilson who’s sneer comes out the mic from the first moments of Glimmers Of The Underworld and draws you into the comparisons immediately.

Again recording with producer Arthur Rizk (Blood Incantation, Cirith Ungol) and engineer Aidan Elias (Blood Incantation, Wayfarer), it’s on this third album that it’s all really clicked, elevating these compositions to a higher level than on the first two albums without changing too much. Singer Brooks Wilson puts it that they wanted it "Like [Metallica's] Black album or [Queensrÿche's] Operation: Mindcrime with loud drums, aggressive and loud guitars and the bass had to be clean and deep.” So this is Crypt Sermon cleaning up their act, to make the songs more potent, cinematic and distinctive. Again reminding me of Savatage, with the elongated run times, mystical lyrics, virtuoso guitars and bass from Steve Jansson, Frank Chin and Matt Knox and expansive drums from Enrique Sagarnaga, they have produced an album that is more expansive and expressive, the clarity benefiting their more conceptual and dramatic style of writing. 

Heavy Is The Crown Of Bone develops a Metallica (Black Album) chug as there’s also a lot to thank Cathedral/Candelmass for on Scrying Orb and the marathon title track. To sum it up Crypt Sermon’s third album takes their epic doom metal foundation and dusts off the grime for a crisper audio and more drama. For fans of Candlemass, Crimson Glory and Savatage, this Stygian Rose blooms beautifully here. 9/10

REZN - Burden (Sargent House)

When Chicago based band REZN stepped into Earth Analog Studios in 2021, the mined enough material to create two records. Rather than do a G'N'R double album thingy, they decided to separate the material in to two distinct albums. The first Solace was released in 2023 independently like all their previous albums. It was melodic and uplifting, REZN leaning on their psychedelic dreaminess and shoegazing wonder to create music to stir your soul. 

The throbbing Indigo begins Burden, Phil Cangelosi's bass is the hook of everything as Patrick Dunn's drumming is massive. What's obvious is how REZN link their songs, one segues into another Spencer Ouellette's synths providing a disconcerting atmosphere as Instinct creeps again favouring a slow burn and jangling clean guitars from Rob McWilliams that slowly shift into distortion. You understand why they are just as welcome to fans of post rock as they are to fans of doom metal. 

On Burden they've put together their heavier material from this session, dealing with themes of claustrophobia and misery, it's all about riffs, delving into the darkest, dirtiest parts of the underground with ear bleeding distortion, headache inducing reverb and a general sense of queasiness. These gearheads are all au fait with engineering and technology so they know exactly how to make sure that every moment makes a mark.  

The crush continues on Bleak Patterns, as the cascading Collapse breathes fire with thunderous distortion, spatial synths/percussion as Soft Prey places sax on it's shoegazing ambience as Chasm closes the album with hissing, malformed fuzz. Burden takes a few listens to fully understand but if you give it time, REZN's major label debut will impress anyone wanting what doom/psych is in 2024. 9/10

96 Bitter Beings - Return To Hellview (Nuclear Blast)

CKY are a lot of things, part of the Bam Margera/Jackass mythology, the band stoners, metal fans, skateboarders and punks could all get on with, blending multiple influences they took the world by storm for a short while in the early 2000's and while CKY are still a band, the main creative behind behind it Deron Miller is now doing his own thing in 96 Bitter Beings. 

Named after a CKY song, they have crowdfunded one album released another through Nuclear Blast and now they return on Nuclear Blast again with Return To Hellview. It's an album that uses Miller reclaiming the songs he wrote with his previous band, newly recorded with the new 96BB line up of Miller on guitars/vocals, Matthew Janaitis on bass and Tuomas Vuorio on drums. 

For anyone who was a fan of CKY will recognise these songs, they're played with the same groove, attitude and skill as the were back when they were recorded first but either better sonics from the improved production methods. Be it thrash metal blasts, punk rock aggression, crushing doom or weird proggy notions Return To Hellview is Miller reclaiming his past (and his royalties). 7/10

New Horizon – Conquerors (Frontiers Music Srl)

H.E.A.T keyboardist Jona Tee formed New Horizon in 2020 alongside H.E.A.T frontman Erik Grönwall, Tee on guitars/bass/keys and Erik on vocals, their debut was brilliant slice of power metal but when it came to record a follow up Grönwall found himself fronting Skid Row, how very selfish of him! I’m joking of course, but it left Jona without a voice for his second album. Thankfully he asked Dynazty singer Nils Molin who said yes, and now we have Conquerors. A second album that sees the band dealing conceptually with important figures from history, be that Jesus on King Of Kings, Armstrong/Aldrin/Collins in Apollo or the Lion Of Macedon on the final track Alexander The Great (356-323 B.C).

So history? Check. Muscly symphonic power metal? Check. All they need now are some aviators and flak jacket and New Horizon will be treading on Sabaton’s gimmick. Again I’m kidding as New Horizon are bit more diverse, both in their lyrical content and their song writing, Fallout War for example is speed metal with a bit of thrash, Georg Härnsten Egg’s drumming leading the speed. Jona handles the bulk of the music again, relying on some of the best Swedish and one Argentinian, six stringers to add some guitar solos while Nils’ vocals are as good here as they are in his own bands, the union him and Elize Ryd have in Amaranthe, rekindled on the ballad Before The Dawn where Elize joins as a guest singer.

New Horizon’s all round as Jona continues to flex his metal muscles, with Nils on board they look certain to Conquer. 8/10