Intothecrypt — Will Of Gods Is A Great Power
[Ordo MCM — 2019]★★★★★
Reviewed 5 August 2019by Sergey Pakhomov
In the mid-nineties, there was a respected Russia Epic Doom band called Scald, which, in addition to the demo record, released the only one full-length album Will Of Gods Is A Great Power. Over the years, this album acquired cult status and been reprinted several times. Due to the tragic death of vocalist Agyl, Scald ceased to exist in 1997. Some of the original members organize the band Tumulus, focused on progressive and folk metal. In 2016, three musicians from the original Scald lineup - Ottar, Velingor, and Harald - reunited and gave birth to a new band called Intothecrypt, stylistically close to Scald's music. According to the information I found on the Internet, since 2016, Intothecrypt have recorded several demo songs. So, in 2019, the Italian label Ordo MCM released the debut album of Intothecrypt, Vakor. The album was published as a Digipack CD, as well as in a digital version. Both are available for order on the label website and on its Bandcamp page.
The cover of the album is a graphic illustration made in the style of the famous Russian illustrator Ivan Bilibin, with some influence from the graphics used in the comics. In the foreground is a monster-like tree stump, with an open mouth and red glowing eyes. Its roots form the name of the album -Vakor, written in Cyrillic. Another part of the roots encircles the pillars and gravestones located on the sides of the stump. To the right, from behind the stump, you can see a figure dressed in a bearskin and holding a staff in his hand. In the background, you can see the forest. In the upper left corner of the cover is the Intothecrypt logo, made in the form of a stylized izhitsa with the addition of Slavic and Finno-Ugric elements. The main color tone of the cover is a dirty green color and its shades. In my opinion, this is a very successful and atmospheric graphic work, saturated with the spirit of Slavic and northern paganism. It seems to me that the cover blends very well with the musical part of the album. The album with a total duration of just under one hour consists of 11 tracks.
Vakor seemed to be a pretty solid and complex piece of music, so I’ll tell you about my impressions in general. So, based on the official description of the album provided by the label, I expected to hear a direct continuation of Scald, however, based not on Scandinavian mythology, but northern Slavic and Finno-Ugric folklore. But it turned out that everything is much more complicated. Based on the work of Scald, the musicians enriched it with a more progressive approach to writing compositions, adding a large number of folk elements close to Slavic and northern shamanism. These elements quite successfully harmonize with heavy and slow riffs, similar in spirit to the classic Death / Doom. The album has a rather slow, measured pace, but there are parts of compositions made at an average pace. I liked the sound of guitars. I would call this sound harsh, heavy and bold. This sound is very harmoniously combined with the parts of the keyboards, which do not assume the role of the main instrument but only create support for the main guitar sound. Also on the album, there are several musical parts, which, in my opinion, are indirectly related to heavy music - these are atmospheric parts with shamanistic drums and interesting folk vocals. It is worth saying that in addition to the three main musicians, six invited vocalists participated in the recording of the album, one of which was also responsible for the keyboard part on this album. However, the main vocal part was taken by bassist Velingor. I honestly expected to hear clean vocals in the spirit of Scald, but Velingor's vocals turned out to be very saturated growling with notes of black-metal vocals. But, nevertheless, given a large number of guest vocalists, there are many different types of vocals on the album, including female folk vocals. The overall sound of the album, the quality of mixing and mastering seemed very good to me. I heard every sound element. The professionalism of the musicians also did not cause me any doubt.
And, as usual, I would like to give a few comparisons, which, in my opinion, are necessary for a full understanding of Intothecrypt music. Musicians say they were inspired by the music of Bathory and Scald. Honestly, the influence of these bands is minimal. It seems to me that the classic early albums of Greek death/doom bands such as Rotting Christ, Septic Flesh and Varathron, as well as the Belarusian band Gods Tower, had the greatest influence on Intothecrypt music.
So, Vakor is a very strong and solid album, which definitely deserves the close attention of fans of the genre. I can’t say that this is a very original sound canvas, however, a competent combination of folk elements, heavy sound, and atmosphere, as well as high-quality production, make this album one of the most striking musical phenomena of this year on the metal scene.
The cover of the album is a graphic illustration made in the style of the famous Russian illustrator Ivan Bilibin, with some influence from the graphics used in the comics. In the foreground is a monster-like tree stump, with an open mouth and red glowing eyes. Its roots form the name of the album -Vakor, written in Cyrillic. Another part of the roots encircles the pillars and gravestones located on the sides of the stump. To the right, from behind the stump, you can see a figure dressed in a bearskin and holding a staff in his hand. In the background, you can see the forest. In the upper left corner of the cover is the Intothecrypt logo, made in the form of a stylized izhitsa with the addition of Slavic and Finno-Ugric elements. The main color tone of the cover is a dirty green color and its shades. In my opinion, this is a very successful and atmospheric graphic work, saturated with the spirit of Slavic and northern paganism. It seems to me that the cover blends very well with the musical part of the album. The album with a total duration of just under one hour consists of 11 tracks.
Vakor seemed to be a pretty solid and complex piece of music, so I’ll tell you about my impressions in general. So, based on the official description of the album provided by the label, I expected to hear a direct continuation of Scald, however, based not on Scandinavian mythology, but northern Slavic and Finno-Ugric folklore. But it turned out that everything is much more complicated. Based on the work of Scald, the musicians enriched it with a more progressive approach to writing compositions, adding a large number of folk elements close to Slavic and northern shamanism. These elements quite successfully harmonize with heavy and slow riffs, similar in spirit to the classic Death / Doom. The album has a rather slow, measured pace, but there are parts of compositions made at an average pace. I liked the sound of guitars. I would call this sound harsh, heavy and bold. This sound is very harmoniously combined with the parts of the keyboards, which do not assume the role of the main instrument but only create support for the main guitar sound. Also on the album, there are several musical parts, which, in my opinion, are indirectly related to heavy music - these are atmospheric parts with shamanistic drums and interesting folk vocals. It is worth saying that in addition to the three main musicians, six invited vocalists participated in the recording of the album, one of which was also responsible for the keyboard part on this album. However, the main vocal part was taken by bassist Velingor. I honestly expected to hear clean vocals in the spirit of Scald, but Velingor's vocals turned out to be very saturated growling with notes of black-metal vocals. But, nevertheless, given a large number of guest vocalists, there are many different types of vocals on the album, including female folk vocals. The overall sound of the album, the quality of mixing and mastering seemed very good to me. I heard every sound element. The professionalism of the musicians also did not cause me any doubt.
And, as usual, I would like to give a few comparisons, which, in my opinion, are necessary for a full understanding of Intothecrypt music. Musicians say they were inspired by the music of Bathory and Scald. Honestly, the influence of these bands is minimal. It seems to me that the classic early albums of Greek death/doom bands such as Rotting Christ, Septic Flesh and Varathron, as well as the Belarusian band Gods Tower, had the greatest influence on Intothecrypt music.
So, Vakor is a very strong and solid album, which definitely deserves the close attention of fans of the genre. I can’t say that this is a very original sound canvas, however, a competent combination of folk elements, heavy sound, and atmosphere, as well as high-quality production, make this album one of the most striking musical phenomena of this year on the metal scene.
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