Crypt Keeper is a west coast hardcore band hailing from Oakland, California. They play a sort of twisted version of the Converge formula, mixing in thrash, classic rock and metal, as well as a bunch of other stuff. The band rips through their songs tight and fast, delivering high energy, mosh friendly devastation.
Like I said, In the Dark of Night sort of gives off Converge-y vibes to me. It comes mostly from the Jacob Bannon-style wailed vocals, and Kurt Ballou-esque twisty and turny riffs that sneak and snake around the fretboard. The songs also float around the two and a half minute mark or less except for the awesomely titled closing track, "On Halloween I Did Some Drugs" which clocks in at around five and a half minutes. This puts the entire album at just over 18 minutes, which unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) leaves me wanting more.
From the pounding and hammering outro of the closing track to the grind speeds of "Luci Underground in Diamonds" and "Hung Over", In the Dark of the Night is chalked full of enough variety to keep even the most sporadic listener entertained. A favorite genre-bend of mine on the album is the flawless incorporation of '50s surf rock in the song Blood on the Beach". I find a lot of this enjoyment comes from the awesome guitar riffs, as well as how well the bass and guitar tracks compliment each other. For example, on the song "Nightmares", when the fat as balls bass groove and rip roaring classic rock/ thrash/ country fried guitar solo kick in together, man, it just puts a hugs-ass grin across my face.
Production is pretty solid on this album, too. Everything is mixed and mastered well; the bass thumps, the guitars growl, the drums pound, and the vocals... uhh... vocal. I really like the guitar and bass tones on the album, because even though everything sounds nice and thick, it's still razor sharp so those awesome, long, winding riffs don't end up sound like my rancid farts after a Taco Bell run.
Bomb-Ass Tracks: Luci Underground in Diamonds, Blood on the Beach, Nightmares
On a Playlist With: Converge, Barlow, Hivesmasher
Overall Score
4.0
Crypt Keeper melt faces, bust guts, and tear new assholes with In the Dark of Night. It's a fun and energetic hardcore record with a fresh take on an old genre. If you don't like it, well, you know what they say: If you grow out of hardcore, you never really liked it in the first place.
You can stalk Crypt Keeper on Facebook and check 'em out on Bandcamp.
That's all for now, folks! Good luck to all those starting school back up tomorrow!
-DG
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