Krypt: Great Spawn Of The Worms Of The Earth (2024, Terminus Hate City Records)

The North American scene has built a great reputation within subgenres such as black and thrash metal, there are many bands that have also combined both sounds to create their own and this is the case of the so-called newcomers Krypt. Led by guitarist and vocalist Julian Chew, accompanied by guitarist Tim Fauls, bassist Brandon Carpenter and drummer Adam Dickerson (ex-Nine Day Descent), the Augusta, Georgia-based quartet began their journey in 2019 and debuted in 2021 with the Enter The Krypt EP that the band itself distributed independently.

Their debut album Ripe With Sin, released in November 2022 via Terminus Hate City Records, laid the foundations for their sound that combines the rawness of thrash metal with accelerated yet simple riffs reminiscent of the early years of early black metal, something that predominates in this new EP titled Great Spawn Of The Worms Of The Earth that is released on July 26 through Terminus Hate City. Four new songs give life to this short but intense EP that in just over sixteen minutes manages to more than demonstrate its enormous potential.

The song that opens Great Spawn Of The Worms Of The Earth is Burden Of The Beast, a composition where black metal is more prominent than in the rest of the album’s compositions and that at times has reminded me of Darkthrone‘s latest works , making use of heavy and repetitive riffs by Fauls and Chew combined with an aggressive rhythmic line by Adam Dickerson where Brandon Carpenter‘s bass takes special prominence. Julian Chew‘s voice is just what you would expect from a band of this style, halfway between thrash and hardcore, with a furious and angry tone of voice. The instrumental prominence of its four members is masterfully captured in Corruption, the second song on the EP that lasts just over a minute and a half.

The last part of the EP is composed of the somewhat calmer and darker Incinerate Eviscerate that contrasts with the first two compositions and at the same time with the one that closes Great Spawn Of The Worms Of The Earth, the fast and portentous Unrelenting who is also responsible for elevating even more so the potential of this short and interesting EP with which Krypt writes a new and important chapter in its career.