Krysthla – Peace In Our Time – Album Review

Source // Krysthla - Peace In Our Time

Let’s cut to the chase, 2016’s A War Of Souls And Desires was a phenomenal release, so how on earth – just 12 months or so later – could Krysthla top it? Somehow, the answer is ‘with great ease’ if Peace In Our Time is anything to go by!

Opener “The Minor Mystery Of Death” is an almighty way to kick-start Krysthla’s sophomore’s release. Showcasing everything that’s great about one of the UK’s finest extreme metal acts in just one track, “The Minor Mystery Of Death” unleashes schizophrenic rhythms, unrivalled aggression and a cunning grasp of melody and dynamics. Plus, when a meaty djent-esque breakdown shatters your spine at the 3 min mark only to be topped off with a classic solo straight out of the book of heavy metal, orgasmic explosions of the hard to suppress kind become unavoidable. Fuckin’ goosebumps sums it up!

Does it get better from there? Not really. But then Krysthla do maintain the same level of intensity and songwriting nous throughout that catapults Peace In Our Time straight into ‘must hear at any cost’ territory! “Depths” is a fist-to-the-face exercise in djent/thrash violence that pins you down with each wave of shocking barbarity and the bob and weave of the bruising “Age Of War” offers a riff-fest of similar magnitude.

Only on album closer “Eternal Oceans” do Krysthla slow things down and it’s actually to the albums detriment; damming the flow that had been a torrent of syncopated rhythms to a mere trickle of post metal meets prog metal meandering. It ain’t a bad track per se but it’s not the bang this otherwise outstanding album should have gone out on.

Regardless, when braced with the oncoming onslaught this tsunami of tech-metal hurls at you for the majority of its duration, simply take a deep breath, put on your strongest and most durable pair of underpants and meet that bitch head-on! Peace In Our Time is absolutely fuckin’ colossal! 9/10