CRYPT MONARCH is a Costa Rican band formed in 2020. Heavily into the Doom and Stoner Metal genres, they have a dark sound full of deep, rich tones and ambient noises. The Necronaut is their debut record, released July 23, 2021 via Electric Valley Records.

The record begins with the fifteen-minute song "Morning Star Through Skull." Right off the bat, I get a BLACK SABBATH vibe from the guitar riff. The rest of the instrumentation is quite different, so I get an influence, not a copycat. I'm good with this as I feel like honoring the roots of metal is never a bad thing. The vocals are definitely not Ozzy or Dio-like in their quality. The rhythm is slow and sludgy, dripping with dark tones and melodies. The guitar solo is good and fits the composition.

Next, we have "Rex Meridionalis." This is 10 minutes long and even slower than the last song. The bass notes up front are almost terrifying in their tone. The drums accentuate the almost evil feel of the song. The guitars use some really interesting, almost ambient sounds throughout. The tuning is a good choice. It offsets some of the darker bass tones, but doesn't try to overshadow the general feel of the tune.

The last of the three songs on the record is "Aglaophotis." Here, we have another 10-minute slow burn song. This time, the guitars are a deeper tone, and the feel is more menacing than the last. According to my search, this is a plant used to ward off evil or in the practice of witchcraft. Pretty appropriate for this record. The gloomy, occult-like feel of the album makes this seem to fit all the better.

With only three songs on the record, but over 36 minutes of music, the songs are long, but not so long they lose cohesion. The individual instruments all make their mark. This is not a guitar driven record or a vocal masterpiece. This is a band effort that sounds like they have worked on it for a while to get it right. It's pretty impressive for a debut record and should be a go to for fans of the genre. This is a band to watch for in the years to come.