Hailing from Belarus comes Crystayler a traditional black metal assault who presents us with their latest offering In The Hearts of the Brave. This album calls back to the old Norwegian days of black metal, presenting cold riffs, primitive drumming, and battle hardened vocals dripping with pride and honor. The corpse paint and chain mail isn’t just a gimmick either, the atmosphere built really reflects the medieval aesthetic and its all thanks to the cold yet heroic riffs and faint sounds of battle in the distance as well.
There’s something incredibly nostalgic about Crystayler’s sound, even from their first album, Visions of Death. That distinct Scandinavian black metal sound is there and they carry the torch that bands like Darkthrone, Immortal, with a mix of that Finnish punkish sound like Sargeist and even Horna. While, they do take a lot of influence from these sounds, they’re able to carve out their own battle-hardened niche of battle-ready black metal, fit for a footman in battle. Each track sings of honorable battles and prideful deaths through harsh cold vocals, screeched out in a ghastly presentation. Mixed with the even colder riffs that repeat in hypnotic fashion, really capture you into their battle lust. The drums tend to vary but they tend to stick to a rather primitive blast beat or hardcore d-beat that gives the song a nice groove, and the all around production helps make the song vibrant but still keeping its edge.
The album can get a little repetitive after a while and the songs can run on just a little bit too long especially if listened to back to back. However, each song on its own really stands strong and really can be quite fun to listen to, the compulsion to headbang with the drums is inescapable. The album isn’t just blastbeats and riffs at times though, there are some atmospheric moments with a rough sounding piano dripping with melancholy and even the final track They Will Never be Forgotten being a rather somber and subdued track with a harsh sounding guitar playing a sleepy passage that feels like one’s last breath after falling on the battlefield. A strong ending to an already strong album.
All in all, every black metal fan should give this album a spin, especially those who are obsessed with the 90s epic Scandinavian sound of medieval glory. I certainly found my self enjoying all of Crystayler’s albums as they all have their own unique approach to such a tried and true sound.