Crypto Chaos - Sediments of Wrath (2019)

Country: Iran
Style: Thrash Metal
Rating: 7/10
Release Date: 29 Jul 2019
Sites: Bandcamp | Facebook | Metal Archives

I've been having internet trouble this evening while trying to get work done so I decided to throw on some thrash to cheer me up. It really ought to be a recognised cure for what ails you! Now, I have a stack of interesting thrash to work through but Crypto Chaos hail from Tabriz in northern Iran, which is one of those unlikely metal countries that keeps on turning out interesting material nowadays, so I threw on their debut, Sediments of Wrath.

Initially, it's pretty basic thrash but it's done well, Moshpit Underground being as enjoyable as its title is clichéd. Then again, I can't see moshpits being a particularly government supported activity in Tabriz, so what might seem like a clichéd title to us might be grim reality there. As to sound, I immediately caught an early Testament feel but with a more evil set of pipes on vocalist Damo, more German in style, like Schmier from Destruction mixed with Tom Angelripper from Sodom.

It's a mid tempo song and so is Thousand Natural Shocks but, just as we're convincing ourselves that the band aren't planning to create anything fancy, they add in some eastern strings and my ears perked right up. That's a wild sound right there and I wanted more of it, but it didn't manifest elsewhere. The song is still much more complex and adventurous than the opener, though.

And then Carnivore ups the tempo and I was totally sold. It makes the first two tracks seem like they were played in slow motion and it's just what the doctor ordered today. I'd have preferred more up tempo thrash but Carnivore is not the only such song on offer. Rebellion of Authority also ratchets up the speed and writing a song about a rebellion against authority in Iran is a sort of rebellion against authority in itself, in a neat but sad meta touch.

Just to keep that thought alive, Revolt ramps up the tempo as well and also wraps up gloriously. As you might expect from its title, Bullet is another fast one for three in a row. However, not all those songs stay fast and the other songs don't always get there. It's a mixed album with regard to speed and, as it ran on, I started to hear not just thrash influences but power influences too, like Accept. There are sections in Bullet and in White Cave that feel very Accept in sound, albeit sans the classical additions. As I listened through the album again, I heard more of that sort of thing.

While I'm seeing conflicting information, I gather there are three people in the band, but that's two guitarists, Trigger and Brontide, and a vocalist in Damo who also handles bass duties. I'm assuming that they're using a session drummer. They're all capable and that bass is refreshingly prominent in the mix on occasion. Whoever's handling the drums does a solid job too.

At the end of the day, this is good stuff and I enjoyed it a great deal. It did exactly what I needed from an album tonight and if I wanted more speed and more of those eastern strings from Thousand Natural Shocks, that doesn't mean I didn't like what I got. This is more good stuff from Iran.