Kryptos - 'Afterburner'

(AFM Records)

Traditional Metal from India? Not exactly a hotbed for this style of music but if I hadn’t known anything about this band prior to listening I would have guessed these guys hailed from Germany or Scandinavia. Kryptos are a new name to me but have been kicking around for almost two decades now, so these guys might not be new to many genre fans but I’m going to have fun checking out there back catalogue following an intriguing introduction to the band with this their latest opus ‘Afterburner’.

Kryptos craft NWOBHM inspired melodic metal, epic tinged songs with slight progressive touches. Although the bands influences are clear and obvious this is very much a modern melodic metal album. Therefore ‘Afterburner’ will appeal to both older and younger metal generations simultaneously.

I’m not a huge fan of the snarling vocals – while I agree Nolan Lewis’s style suits the songs, I find them a little jarring and unappealing. For me cleaner, crisper vocals would have been better but admittedly these songs would take a different life if that was the case. I would have liked some stronger more striking choruses – ‘On The Run’ probably provides the most potent chorus, but even then, it’s not obvious single material.

What sells this album though and makes it worth listening to is the guitar work from Rohit Chaturvedi, who churns out some majestic melodic metal riffage and entertaining solos. Had this album been instrumental I think it would have still garnered much love from old school metal heads!

How this album hits you is down to personal taste towards the vocals, so therefore opinion will be divided and although the vocals aren’t for me, I still find myself enjoying the melodious guitar riffs regardless.

For the curious who may be undecided the tracks I’d recommend giving a go to are ‘Dead Of Night’ and ‘Mach Speed Running’ both of which contain impressive, engrossing and infectious guitars.

If you are a melodic metal fan there is a lot here for me to recommended ‘Afterburner’ to you as a must listen release. If you’re a causal genre fan it may not be as impressive and there is no doubting the vocals will be off putting for many but I think the guitar work alone is well worth anyone’s time to at least check out especially if traditional metal stirs your beans!

7/10

Essential Track - 'Dead Of Night'

Review by Woody