Band:	Kryophere
Album:	Hiraeth
Style:	Death metal
Release date:	2011
A review by:	KwonVerge

01. Assume The Position
02. Generation Seven
03. Dolls House Part I
04. Serious Fun
05. Dolls House Part II
06. Hypocrite
07. Children Of Prometheus
08. Seat Of The Soul
09. Wake Up To Aces
10. The Legend Of Gary Boozy And His Infamous Bulbish Crumbs

Kryophere is a Welsh young beast on wheels that appeared out of nowhere at the dawn of this year's summer with their debut album Hiraeth ("longing" in Welsh). They have a multi-layered sound blending various references from melodic and technical death metal to hardcore and infuse groovy elements alongside a sense of atmosphere that overruns the compositions from time to time.

The promo sheet refers to them as an "eclectic, original band", well, allow me to disagree. While listening to Hiraeth you will witness a welcome amount of references that don't pass by unnoticed. First of all, there are moments you receive some Pantera transitions ("Serious Fan" for example), also, Decapitated references come to the surface through some riffing and guitar ideas whereas Strapping Young Lad couldn't be missing from the overall sphere of influences. I shouldn't skip mentioning the ambiance factor: whenever the sound becomes more atmospheric or when a beat adorns the drumming I get a strong Dagoba vibe.

All in all, we're talking about a band that has potential and they have the strength to depict their sound references and breathe through them their dynamic musical hybrid that's not afraid to embed welcome amounts of melody and acoustic beauty. They've got some pretty strong ideas with their main weapons being the powerful and qualified drumming, the relentless or groovier guitars with some spot-on solos and the vocals that have a varied sound face. They range from hardcore scissor screams to light or deeper grunts and at times they possess a thrash-driven edge. The production is pretty good and helps the compositions give prominence to their strength without drowning their melodic aspect whenever it appears. A good production makes an interesting album better and Hiraeth is a decent release, it has its strong moments but it also has some insignificant passages that make the listening process slightly difficult at times, lessening the interest of the listener.

Kryophere released a decent album and if they work a bit on the song construction factor, with a higher sense of inspiration and a bit more personality they can become more well-known. As for now, if anyone of the aforementioned references intrigued you a bit, you should give them a chance. As I said, they are a beast on wheels, they have to get them spinning.