Krypthall is one Mexico’s many underground Black Metal bands. The one man band released ‘Primitive & Macabre’, a compilation of early works, on APOTT records back in 2023. These tracks were recorded back between 2007 and 2012, in a time when Krypthall was called Ohrkus Ashtart. ‘Primitive & Macabre’ is made up of tracks in many different shades, colours and styles. Whilst all compositions are boasting a very dark and unsettling mood, they vary from being purely Black Metal to taking on a minimalistic Dark Ambient form.
The Black Metal side of this compilation is the most interesting part, with simple riffs woven frantically together to from a song. It is clear that the riffs from Burzum, Manes or Drowning The Light were a great inspiration to Krypthall. However, these riffs aren’t repeated endlessly and when they do repeat a number of time, the drum machine is likely to shift its pattern. This makes the Black Metal songs pretty interesting to listen to, but beware, the production makes it far from an easy listening experience.
The Dark Ambient side of ‘Primitive & Macabre’ is rather straining. These compositions are minimalistic takes on the genre that lack any sort of structure. Krypthall’s Dark Ambient pieces tend to move about slowly, but still keep the dark spirit alive. More annoying moment arise too, especially on second half of ‘Violent Hostility’, with a microphone feeding back into its amplifier eternally.
All things considered, Krypthall’s ‘Primitive & Macabre’ is likely to get lost among the masses of underground Black Metal releases. It’s impressive this one man band was able to conjure such a multifaceted set of songs this early in its existence, but it doesn’t surpass the level of good, let alone, great Black Metal.
