Crypt Monarch - Codex Pestilentia
Release Date: September 5th, 2025
Cognitive Discordance Records, Heavy Threads, Violence Records
Crypt Monarch are a doom/stoner band from Costa Rica that got their start in 2020. Built from the same minds that brought us Age Of The Wolf and Voidoath, they are no stranger to creating the correct feel they ominously set out to achieve on "Codex Pestilentia" This being their 2nd release, they sought to broaden their desired sound into more caustic territories by incorporating a more belligerent feel. Recorded by the band themselves at Cabin in the Woods Recording, they achieved all the necessary sludgy components needed for a vicious yet hazy beast of an album. "Codex Pestilentia" has five songs with all but one above the 7:00 mark. The final track, "Eaten by the Castle of Flies (Pt. 1 Acid Chambers/ Pt.2 Dark Dawn)" is even resting at 11:11. The subject matter of their 2nd album involves, "hellish creatures, perilous travels, and the undying pride of a king". This is a development from the previous album, "The Necronaut". That album dealt with a disgraced king that returns from the dead to demolish his warlock enemies. "Codex Pestilentia" is set 200 years later in a destroyed world at the hands of The Necronaut. The story on this release involves finding a cursed spell book to shut away the evil forces forever, the Codex Pestilentia.
"Terror From Above" begins the album with an excellent ode to doom greatness. I love the guitar ideas on this track. It is reminiscent of all your favorite characteristics found in traditional doom. They are slow moving of course, but interesting enough to captivate the listener. Continuing down further into their musically abrasive tunnel, "Cultus Solis Aeterni" builds on the feel set forth on the initial track. One could easily find themselves immersed in a surreal headspace on this song. I really like the bass interlude at the roughly 4:00 spot. It is made even better by the amazing bass tone the player has. "Two Sleeps", despite being too short in my opinion, retains a more traditional "stoner" quality by possessing a easy-going trance-like quality. I would have liked to see it develop beyond the 2:00 mark. Yet, it supplied a neat brief interlude before returning to a more aggressive sound on, "War of the Gargantuan (Aquadome)". Pummeling like a thick-handed fist, this song is reminder what the true meaning of "heavy" is. I can only imagine its performance to a crowd of people weighted down, willingly succumbing to its fury. "Codex Pestilentia" ends with, "Eaten by the Castle of Flies (Pt. 1 Acid Chambers/ Pt.2 Dark Dawn)". As stated before, its the longest song on the album. Some might be turned off by the time investment that a 11:00 song would take. Fans of the genre as a whole should be no stranger to long songs though. We welcome their ability to fully flesh out an idea with all their other-worldly dimensional qualities. The song starts with a slower feel but then builds at roughly 4:00 to an exciting lead guitar interplay. From there it continues back into previous parts before resting at 2:00 to an idea that strikes me as slightly unusual, but neat all the same. Throughout the release, the vocalists supply an approach to the music that is diverse. They move between a graveled shouts and borderline death metal-esque sounds. The drummer does what he needs to do to bring everything together. He may have a stripped down strategy to his playing, but that is what the music calls for.
As a lover of all that encompasses doom/stoner metal, I strongly encourage you to check out and support Crypt Monarch.
www.facebook.com/cryptmonarch
cryptmonarch.bandcamp.com
Release Date: September 5th, 2025
Cognitive Discordance Records, Heavy Threads, Violence Records
Crypt Monarch are a doom/stoner band from Costa Rica that got their start in 2020. Built from the same minds that brought us Age Of The Wolf and Voidoath, they are no stranger to creating the correct feel they ominously set out to achieve on "Codex Pestilentia" This being their 2nd release, they sought to broaden their desired sound into more caustic territories by incorporating a more belligerent feel. Recorded by the band themselves at Cabin in the Woods Recording, they achieved all the necessary sludgy components needed for a vicious yet hazy beast of an album. "Codex Pestilentia" has five songs with all but one above the 7:00 mark. The final track, "Eaten by the Castle of Flies (Pt. 1 Acid Chambers/ Pt.2 Dark Dawn)" is even resting at 11:11. The subject matter of their 2nd album involves, "hellish creatures, perilous travels, and the undying pride of a king". This is a development from the previous album, "The Necronaut". That album dealt with a disgraced king that returns from the dead to demolish his warlock enemies. "Codex Pestilentia" is set 200 years later in a destroyed world at the hands of The Necronaut. The story on this release involves finding a cursed spell book to shut away the evil forces forever, the Codex Pestilentia.
"Terror From Above" begins the album with an excellent ode to doom greatness. I love the guitar ideas on this track. It is reminiscent of all your favorite characteristics found in traditional doom. They are slow moving of course, but interesting enough to captivate the listener. Continuing down further into their musically abrasive tunnel, "Cultus Solis Aeterni" builds on the feel set forth on the initial track. One could easily find themselves immersed in a surreal headspace on this song. I really like the bass interlude at the roughly 4:00 spot. It is made even better by the amazing bass tone the player has. "Two Sleeps", despite being too short in my opinion, retains a more traditional "stoner" quality by possessing a easy-going trance-like quality. I would have liked to see it develop beyond the 2:00 mark. Yet, it supplied a neat brief interlude before returning to a more aggressive sound on, "War of the Gargantuan (Aquadome)". Pummeling like a thick-handed fist, this song is reminder what the true meaning of "heavy" is. I can only imagine its performance to a crowd of people weighted down, willingly succumbing to its fury. "Codex Pestilentia" ends with, "Eaten by the Castle of Flies (Pt. 1 Acid Chambers/ Pt.2 Dark Dawn)". As stated before, its the longest song on the album. Some might be turned off by the time investment that a 11:00 song would take. Fans of the genre as a whole should be no stranger to long songs though. We welcome their ability to fully flesh out an idea with all their other-worldly dimensional qualities. The song starts with a slower feel but then builds at roughly 4:00 to an exciting lead guitar interplay. From there it continues back into previous parts before resting at 2:00 to an idea that strikes me as slightly unusual, but neat all the same. Throughout the release, the vocalists supply an approach to the music that is diverse. They move between a graveled shouts and borderline death metal-esque sounds. The drummer does what he needs to do to bring everything together. He may have a stripped down strategy to his playing, but that is what the music calls for.
As a lover of all that encompasses doom/stoner metal, I strongly encourage you to check out and support Crypt Monarch.
www.facebook.com/cryptmonarch
cryptmonarch.bandcamp.com