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Crypt Sermon's 'Will Of The Ancient Call' Knows Its Heavy Metal History

Crypt Sermon.
Scott Kinkade
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Courtesy of the artist
Crypt Sermon.

Props to a metal band that fully acknowledges its lineage: Philadelphia's Crypt Sermon knows it couldn't exist without Candlemass, Solitude Aeturnus and Dio-era Black Sabbath. On its debut album, Out Of The Garden, the band quickly gets into the business of making majestic doom metal that honors its forebears. Just listen to the hefty "Will Of The Ancient Call."

Guitarists Steve Jansson and James Lipczynski's single-string riffs move at a gallant pace in step with Brooks Wilson's regal voice, which recalls Dio with a slightly lower register and a bit more grizzle. The guitar solos that enter three and half minutes in, however, are menacing swarms that owe more to Autopsy's spiraling death grime than anything else. Featuring members of Trenchrot, Hivelords and Ashencult — metal of the death, sludge and black varieties, loosely and respectively — Out Of The Garden is a hell of a debut. But there's lot of space for Crypt Sermon to discover.

Out Of The Garden comes out Feb. 24 on Dark Descent.

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