Review by Michael on November 26, 2023.

After having changed their band name from Distillator into Cryptosis and hitting a deep impact in the scene with the debut album Bionic Swarm the Dutch trio from Enschede is back with a new EP. On The Silent Call they present us two brand new songs and two live tracks from a gig in Athens.

Starting with the title track, the listener might be a touch surprised because of the rough and heavy atmosphere. A lot of keyboards emphasize the track which is peppered with many tremolo pickings and very harsh vocals by Laurens and this sounds very much different then their debut album. Being a Borg version of some Nocturnus and melodic black metal stuff would maybe describe it best. It is a very technical track but also with a lot of sci-fi vibes and if this points in the direction of the album that probably will be released around this time in 24, I won't be disappointed with it.

The second new track is 'Master Of Life' which starts very catchy and with the typical Cryptosis trademarks like amazing guitar solo and pretty breathtaking breaks in the song. In the further course of the track they get a little bit more bulky though they don't do anything wrong. Here and there they incorporate some Voivod-esque and other dissonant parts that make the song a little bit more challenging. But this is just an intermezzo in the middle and soon they are back on the catchy path.

With 'Prospect Of Immortality' and 'Transcendence' they have two tracks from the debut as live tracks. I guess everybody who has ever attended a Cryptosis show knows how precise and professional the guys act on stage. I was pretty much overwhelmed how they worked together with the video show. There was no mistake in the music and no delay to the video that was shown and this is a really big thing playing such challenging songs. The sound is pretty good, too so that you won't be disappointed with it all, although I personally had wished for one or two more new songs and maybe a cover version of whatever instead of live songs, but this is (like everything else here) just my personal opinion.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10 (for the two new songs only – the live ones without rating)