Review by Vladimir on January 22, 2024.

Some time ago, I was recommended to check out the extreme metal band The Crypt from Wisconsin, with their sixth full-length album Истребитель from last year. As of recently, the band has quickly returned with their new independent EP Throne To The Setting Sun, released on January 17th, 2024. Without any further delay, it’s time to check out what the band managed to put out this time. 

Unlike the band’s previous experimental extreme metal output that was Истребитель, this time they return to incorporate heavy metal since the second album Odal, combined with 80’s synth and psychedelic elements. The first has a progressive rock vibe to it with a lot of catchiness, whereas the second song feels like an 80’s heavy metal anthem with epic singing vocals in the vein of “I Want Out” by Helloween, and the third song feels quite doomy and psychedelic with some folk instrumentation here and there. Overall, the songs rely heavily on using clean singing vocals with dynamic guitar riff ideas and slower drum patterns, with keyboards, synths, flutes and sarangi as additional instruments. 

It’s a very short EP which demonstrates a lot of interesting ideas and it has a very dynamic songwriting, with each song being unique in its own way. It seems that the band was once again encouraged to experiment with a lot of different ideas that could only be expanded from here, possibly even hinting at their next big work that they’re working on. The songs themselves are a joy to listen to, but I personally feel like these three songs didn’t really manage to fully satisfy my appetite, although considering that this is an EP after all, it may be just a piece of one big bite to come. The sound production on this EP is very good and top quality, providing a nice and clean sound to the guitars, drums and vocals, as well as the aforementioned fork instruments that were nice additions. 

Throne To The Setting Sun may not be anything mind-blowing or revolutionary, however it is a nice glimpse of what The Crypt may do in the near future when the time comes for their seventh full-length album. It’s no surprise that they did something different than their previous album considering the fact that they have already done it before, so whatever step they take with their next release can only expand their sound and help attract a wider audience. 

Rating: 7.8 out of 10