Poland’s Crystal Viper has kept a rapid release pace since their formation in 2003, releasing a new album every few years since 2007’s The Curse of Crystal Viper. While their earlier days were rooted in a lot of classic heavy metal, over time they’ve incorporated just as much power metal and even some 70s hard rock influences which has resulted in material that had its own identity. After placing more of an emphasis on melody and prominent keyboard arrangements with 2019’s Tales of Fire and Ice, Crystal Viper’s turned the focus back to guitar focused heavy metal with their eighth album The Cult. With songs that remain consistently engaging and powerful from beginning to end, this is easily one of the first major highlights of the genre 2021 has to offer.
Over the years Crystal Viper has explored a wide range of heavy and power metal territory, but with The Cult they’ve made a conscious effort to return to a more aggressive and guitar centric style. You won’t find keyboards or piano this time around, making the songwriting as a whole feel like a love letter to everything NWOBHM and hard rock which makes perfect sense considering three of the five members play guitar. Where some of this band’s earlier material had a tendency to fall into a familiar pattern by the end of an album, over the years they have gotten far more dynamic and that is once again the case even if some of the tonality and grittiness recalls their first few albums. Each song takes on an identify of its own and has a defining element that sticks with you, whether it’s the Iron Maiden and Thin Lizzy guitar solos on the title track or the slower pace and almost ballad-like nature of “Sleeping Giants”. There’s plenty of scorching guitar leads and dueling riffs that remind me of the best of heavy metal, but with the songwriting chops that make Crystal Viper worthy heirs to some of the legends. In addition to the ten main tracks on The Cult each format has bonus cover songs, with the CD offering King Diamond’s “Welcome Home” and the LP offering Satan’s “Trial by Fire”, both of which suit the grittier and darker tone that is prevalent on the rest of the album.
Marta Gabriel’s vocals have only seemed to get stronger with each of Crystal Viper’s releases and she easily reaches new heights on this effort. While heavy metal vocalists sometimes seem to lose some of their range or remain stagnant by the time they’ve put out this many albums with a single band. Gabriel only seems to be able to pull from a wider range with each passing year. Newcomers will notice this right away on the title track where she starts off with a lower pitch that has a rougher edge to it but heads into soaring falsettos as the chorus kicks in. There’s an equal amount of power and melody to the performance, and a lot of the choruses are so catchy that they’re likely to get stuck in your head for some time. With the cover songs on each of their albums Marta has often used them as a chance to try out new approaches, and many of you will be pleased to hear that she pulls off King Diamond’s trademark falsettos extremely well on “Welcome Home”.
Crystal Viper has always been a good band, but as they’ve progressed they’ve become a serious contender in the world of heavy metal. Where so many fall into repetition by the end, The Cult offers riffs that stand out from beginning to end which is no easy feat. Despite having written almost a review a day since the year started and listening to tons of different bands every day, I’ve still found some of the songs from this album stuck in my head and that says a lot. The return to a more aggressive and guitar centric sound has paid off, and I suspect this will be a release people are still listening to as the year goes on. The Cult is available from Listenable Records.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg
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