CRYPT SERMON · The Stygian Rose | BLACK LP

Black vinyl in standard cover.

Background information about ''

Let's get one thing straight right out of the gate: Crypt Sermon have been quietly, methodically building toward something monumental, and The Stygian Rose is the moment it all comes crashing through the stained glass. This Philadelphia sextet — featuring a who's who of the underground with members from Daeva, Unrest, Horrendous, Obsequiae, and The Silver — have taken every ounce of doom grandeur, every razor-sharp heavy metal riff, and every shadowy atmospheric impulse they've cultivated over the last decade and forged them into something genuinely transcendent.

From the first searing notes of "Glimmers in the Underworld," you know you're in for something different. The guitar work of Steve Jansson and Frank Chin is absolutely incendiary — the solo salvo on that opener alone is enough to make your jaw hit the floor. But it's the way Brooks Wilson's commanding, theatrical vocals ride atop Enrique Sagarnaga's thunderous drumming and Matt Knox's rumbling bass that elevates this beyond mere genre exercise. "Heavy is the Crown of Bone" stomps with an almost swaggering confidence, a track that feels like it was built to shake the foundations of whatever venue is lucky enough to host it. And then there's "Thunder (Perfect Mind)" — those Near Eastern-tinged melodies woven through the doom framework, with Tanner Anderson's keyboards adding this gorgeous, eerie shimmer. It's the kind of song that stops you mid-stride. The 11-minute title track? An odyssey. Pure and simple. It shifts, breathes, and builds in ways that recall the great epic metal storytellers without ever sounding derivative.

The production here is a revelation. Arthur Rizk and Aidan Elias captured something at Redwoods in Philadelphia that feels both massive and intimate — think the weighty punch of Dave Jerden's work with Alice In Chains meeting the earthy, organic heft Rick Rubin brought to Trouble. Singles like "Glimmers in the Underworld" hit with that crisp, Kernon-esque clarity, while deeper cuts like "Scrying Orb" and "Down in the Hollow" stretch out into longer, more mysterious shadows. This is Crypt Sermon's level-up, no question.

For fans of:
Candlemass, Khemmis, Visigoth, Eternal Champion, King Diamond, Solitude Aeternus

Other Versions

CD · Sold out WHITE LP · Sold out

Track listing

A1. Glimmers In The Underworld
A2. Thunder (Perfect Mind)
A3. Down In The Hollow
B4. Heavy Is The Crown Of Bone
B5. Scrying Orb
B6. The Stygian Rose

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