Review by Vladimir on May 1, 2024.

US extreme metal band The Crypt from Fish Creek, Wisconsin have returned once again, hungrier and angrier than before. Their recent EP Throne To The Setting Sun which was released back in January left me wondering what will come out next from the band’s vault, especially since they keep switching genres with each following release, but I was thinking that they would hopefully go back to their good old death metal direction. Their independent seventh full-length album Victory Through Chaos was released on April 27th, 2024, showcasing that the band was indeed going back to their primitive and chaotic extreme roots. Is it worth the go? Let’s find out, shall we? 

The intro track slowly sets up the mood of the album with its ease and suspense building up, but when the second track 'Victory Through Chaos' comes to play, this is where you witness The Crypt once again ravaging with immense death thrashing metal, full of shredding action, ominous atmosphere and primitive aggression. Along the way you will hear a lot of headbanging tunes that will definitely leave a strong impression when the first note hits, but I can still guarantee that you will not be prepared for the madness that awaits. In case you ask yourselves why, it’s because this album is packed with ideas from all angles, molding this enormous pile into a one colossal collection that’s full of psychedelic atmosphere, progression, technicality, death-thrashing and then some. The fourth track in particular, 'Princess In Mourning', turned out to be a very big surprise with its maniacal screaming vocals and slow rhythmic output which create a heavy atmospheric and melancholic feeling altogether. We also have some insanely aggressive and technical death metal going on, starting from the fifth track 'Ninghizzida' which utilizes some over the top blast beats, headbanging insane riffs, shredding guitar solos, carrying some of that flavor over to the following tracks 'Lunar Blood', 'Virgin Sacrifices' and 'Fire Walk With Me'. We’ve also got one nice instrumental on this album, that being 'Dim At Noon', a very progressive and structurally complex track with plenty of guitar and bass solo work going on top of the riffs. 

The Crypt always had a very strong, dynamic and complex songwriting, constantly shifting with its variety of ideas but always managing to stay on track. Whenever it comes to the next work of The Crypt, I am always on the edge of my seat wondering what will come next, and that’s not just in terms of the overall musical direction with each following album due to switching back and forth with subgenres, but also in terms of what each song on the album will throw at you out of nowhere. Their music definitely has a heavy surprise factor about it, leaving you open to your imagination and wondering about multiple possibilities where it will go from here on out, and it’s great because it’s not predictable from the very get-go and you would often end up experiencing something entirely different. This album is definitely chaotic all the way through, even with its awesome Lovecraftian style cover art done by an anonymous artist by the nickname of Doomesia, who managed to convey the overall vibe of Victory Through Chaos, and visually represent its evil nature. The album production was once again handled by Danila Pavlov from Belarus, who this time gave us another great and exemplary modern sound which checks all the marks and keeps things tidy without too much polishing. 

After their recent EP Throne To The Setting Sun, I didn’t know what to expect because that is one of the great things about The Crypt, they always make you wonder what’s going to happen on the next album, although I was lucky enough to have guessed that Victory Through Chaos was going be the return to the wicked and ominous death metal. It’s a very fine album that was worth the time and it certainly didn’t disappoint, especially with all the goodies that you can find in their music, keeping you engaged and excited all the way through. Although I still think it would be hard to top the great performance with their previous full-length album Истребитель from 2023, nevertheless, Victory Through Chaos is a nice continuation in The Crypt’s dark saga. 

Rating: 8.2 out of 10