Black Metal is becoming a growing force in Brazil's Extreme Metal scene.  However, in the devout Catholic country, it is forced to remain underground.  One of these Black Metal bands goes by THE KRYPTIK, who previously went by CRYPTIC LORN from their 1998 inception to 2010.  Then, after a three-year hiatus, they returned and changed their name to what they're now known by.  THE KRYPTIK also released their first ever albums since their return.  The band's third and most recent album, "A Journey to the Darkest Kingdom," was released via Purity Through Fire on June 2nd.  It is a seven-track album that totals up to about 1 hour and 9 minutes.  Needless to say, this Black Metal record is not for the faint of heart.

The first track of "A Journey to the Darkest Kingdom" is actually the title track as well.  This style of track arrangement is strikingly similar to that of Norwegian Black Metal legends IMMORTAL and a few of their later albums, like "All Shall Fall" and "Northern Chaos Gods." In the case of THE KRYPTIK, their first track/title track is 11 minutes long, with the first 6 minutes consisting of a haunting melody of instrumentation and choir vocals.  The next half of the song is where we hear the harsh vocals of D. Sinner, who's also credited for the guitars, bass, and keyboards on this album.  Overlooking the extreme length of the song and the overwhelming use of instruments over lyrics, "A Journey to the Darkest Kingdom" is layers and layers of darkness to bring the album off to a great start.

While the guitar riffs in the first track are more shredding in style, they start to give THE KRYPTIK's Black Metal more a melodic sound from the next track "Into the Blasphemy Ritual" onwards.  Despite the evolution in instrumentation throughout the album, all of the other tracks are also 7+ minutes long.  "Unhallowed" is the longest of all, clocking up to a little over a staggering 12 minutes.  Nonetheless, just by the song titles, you can tell this Brazilian duo revels in anti-religion and Satanism.  It's harder to tell by lyrics alone though because the production quality makes it seem like it's drowning out D. Sinner's shrieking vocals.  I should also give credit to F. Tormentor's amazing drumming skills on "A Journey to the Darkest Kingdom," because he's very generous with blast beats, Thrash-like rhythm, and double kick patterns.  The closing track "Opus Luciferi"–a name which doesn't get any more blasphemous and Satanic than it already does-is unexpectedly different from the rest of the album.  There are no lyrics but plenty of keyboards and choirs.  However, it just goes to show that you don't need lyrics to make haunting Black Metal.

And so ends the third album by THE KRYPTIK.  It has its weaknesses, but it definitely has plenty of strengths.  I particularly enjoyed the use of choir-like vocalizing and keyboards, along with the aggressive guitar riffs and drums.  However, the bass was virtually non-existent.  It's not uncommon in Black Metal but still quite unfortunate.  To put it simply, it doesn't matter if you're a long-time fan or newcomer to THE KRYPTIK, Black Metal, or even both.  This album will satisfy your needs.