While Echoes of the Soul certainly impressed to varying degrees, one thing rings true for me: Shades of Sorrow is an unqualified improvement on an already winning formula. Tainá Bergamaschi’s and Jéssica Falchi’s serrated riffs, now further spiced with snarling tremolo melodies, form the backbone of the record, ensuring its sharpened teeth sink deeper into the flesh than before. Fernanda Lira’s plucky bass sounds like it was pulled straight from Death’s playbook, while its consistent presence affords Shades of Sorrow serious heft and ample warmth. Meanwhile, her banshee screams and feral roars raise every hair on the neck, her delivery and technique simultaneously animalistic and refined. Drummer Luana Dametto stuffs the record with a hellish variety of rhythms, patterns, and fills that transition between each other like a twisting tornado, and yet each segment fits perfectly. In short, Crypta are a finely oiled machine firing on all cylinders.
An album like this is defined by details—since the basic components are all accounted for and in fine shape—and Crypta get the details right with Shades of Sorrow. After setting the tone with piano étude “The Aftermath,” Shades of Sorrow’s first five tracks in a row make mince meat of my spongy form. “The Outsider” and “The Other Side of Anger” swagger with an irresistible groove that complements the murderous bloodthirst of “Dark Clouds” and “Stronghold.” The back end, separated by a somewhat less functional interlude “The Limbo,” brooks the listener no quarter as it too flays the dermis. Ripping single “Trial of Traitors” and companions “Agents of Chaos,” “Lift the Blindfold,” and “Lord of Ruins” all compete ferociously for album highlight status, as these songs shred through an unreal number of riffs, hooks, memorable leads, and kit abuse. Little moments scattered throughout the record enhance the experience further, whether it be delivered via blackened tremolos battling alongside extra-crunchy riffs (“Stronghold,” “Lord of Ruins”); a shreddy solo or two that would find a warm welcome at any tattoo parlor (“Dark Clouds,” Lullaby of the Forsaken”); a noodly Death-meets-Sepultura flourish for the tab-fiends in the audience (“Agents of Chaos,” “Lift the Blindfold”); or any number of callbacks to classic South-American thrash metal (that hugely satisfying and snappy snare tone, for instance).
All of this makes for a monstrous record stuffed with too many great moments to recount here, but that in and of itself exposes one crack in the armor. Shades of Sorrow runs for just under fifty-two minutes, and though there are no bad songs, there is some measure of excess. Three of those minutes could be excised immediately by deleting the intro, interlude, and outro. Killer material the remaining forty-nine minutes boast, but each of the remaining ten songs could still sacrifice thirty seconds or so without any harm done. For example, several tracks, like “Dark Clouds” and “The Outsider,” waste time by ending on a fluffy fade, putting precious momentum at risk. Eliminating those fades alone shaves a couple minutes in total. Otherwise, the only other nitpick I can level at Shades of Sorrow regards lyrics. As you might guess, Shades of Sorrow fits the worthy theme of battling depression, anxiety and trauma. The lyrics themselves handle that subject with tact and respect, but the phrasing itself is occasionally awkward and consequently dulls impact.
Those readers familiar with my work for this blog know that I normally won’t bother critiquing the lyrics of a death metal record unless I truly need to reach for negatives. Rest assured, Shades of Sorrow kicks shipping ship-loads of ass. It’s a clear improvement over an already solid debut record, and proves that Crypta are on a steep upward trajectory towards the contemporary elite of extreme metal. If you have even just one metallic bone in your body, you owe it to yourself to spin—and then buy—Shades of Sorrow.
Rating: Great!
DR: NA | Format Reviewed: Stream
Label: Napalm Records
Websites: cryptabrazil.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/cryptadeath
Releases Worldwide: August 4th, 2023
