Band:	Crypt Sermon
Album:	The Ruins Of Fading Light
Style:	Doom metal
Release date:	September 2019

01. The Ninth Templar (Black Candle Flame)
02. Key Of Solomon
03. Our Reverend's Grave
04. Epochal Vestiges
05. Christ Is Dead
06. The Snake Handler
07. Oath Of Exile
08. Enslave The Heathens
09. Beneath The Torchfire Glare
10. The Ruins Of Fading Light

Galloping horses, dark choral, mighty kettledrums... this is definitely not a grindcore album.

Crypt Sermon is a Philadelphia-based band that emerged in 2013 and released their epic doom full-length debut two years later. Taking things quite slowly, as doom is supposed to move, the follow-up was left to brew for another four years. On The Ruins Of Fading Light they have gone a bit lighter on the 'epic' and heavier on the 'doom'.

Towering riffs, flashy solos, atmospheric and folksy interludes, memorable choruses and soaring vocals are all present in this release and those of you who are already familiar with Crypt Sermon's sound won't be very surprised by their new offering. The band members have obviously heard every Candlemass, Dio-era Black Sabbath and Solitude Aeturnus album more times than they can count but the list of influences does not stop there. I swear I thought I was hearing "Like a man is a mountainside..." from Manowar's "Mountains" in the chorus of "Key Of Solomon" and the spirit of Mayhem looms large on "Christ Is Dead", which is something I wished for and was happy to hear after the band's excellent "De Mysteriis Doom Sathanas" cover two years ago.

The atmosphere is biblical and esoteric, the lyrical themes focus on existential anxiety and the metaphysics of life, and the pace is generally not fast apart from a few instances, and especially in the opener "The Ninth Templar (Black Candle Flame)". The guitars have a pivotal role, not only due to the bruising riffs, but also because of the emphatic lead guitar parts; the gloomy melodies of "Key Of Solomon" and the oriental ones of "The Snake Handler" are nothing less than riveting. Brooks Wilson's voice has evolved a lot since the debut, still reminiscing Robert Lowe, but also having Jon Oliva moments when it gets raspier and at times I can even hear the ghost of Chester Bennington (seriously!). This is actually one of the main reasons why Crypt Sermon sound much less of a knock off band in 2019 than they did in 2015.

Another point of progress since Out Of The Garden is the inclusion of the additional influences already mentioned, as well as the use of instruments such as the harp, hurdy-gurdy, recorder and tambourine that are all heard in the title track, courtesy of Tanner Anderson ( Obsequiae, Celestiial). This last song is a mission-stating closer that, in the words of the band, echoes their message: "we're doomed".

In order to get away with the lack in originality, Crypt Sermon had to deliver in spades in the songwriting department and they have done exactly that. The Ruins Of Fading Light's bell of doom has tolled and it is not blackened, sludge or stoner; just pure, traditional, classic and timeless.

"I looked over the edge of the rainbow
I stood atop the thunder head
Far away a dark horizon
We are lost and Christ is dead!"