LIVE REVIEW: Crypta @ Asylum 2, Birmingham

After five years of life, Brazilian death metal upstarts CRYPTA have finally stepped foot on British soil. Tonight’s show is a sold-out grand finale of their first jaunt here, and they make it no secret that they’re honoured to be playing the birthplace of heavy metal. Weirdly though, upstairs at The Asylum never feels like it’s anywhere over half-full, with enough space to Zumba your way through the entirety of CRYPTA’s hour-set.

Rather than a special guest of sorts, CRYPTA have chosen to shine a light on local support for each show. Living up to their billing, old school thrash revivalists THRASHEAD open up proceedings with a set that borderlines on both the brilliant and the bizarre. If you were pining for James Hetfield’s husky tones, vocalist Lewis gives you his best budget impression — from their straight-from-the-eighties synchronised stage moves to slathering their set in thrash classics. 

Make no mistake, THRASHEAD are METALLICA lite. Covers of the “extremely difficult” Dyer’s Eve, and Ride The Lightning build up momentum, with half of tonight’s headliners banging their heads and pumping their fists. But a lack of self-belief — is it normal to ask the crowd if it’s sounding good after every single song? — and an over-reliance on covers without being a cover band keeps things muted.

Rating: 5/10

7 YEAR WAR on the other hand suffer no such identity crisis. Sure, guitarist Cass Croney cosplaying Timothee Chalamet in corpse paint doesn’t chime with their chugging, chainsaw brand of death metal, but at least they bring their own bangers to the dinner table. Fallen Angel flexes their melodic death metal muscles, whilst Baby Killer crunches and crushes the bones of anyone who dares resist its heaviness. 

They’ve already deemed it their biggest support slot on their socials, so it’s no surprise they’ve come to play. They put in the work to whip up the crowd, vocalist Tom Ball constantly coming back to the mic for more movement, more headbanging, and more moshing — not that it ever happens, even when half the band abandon the stage for the pit, only to find it empty as they riff away. It’s not a ‘them’ thing, it’s a crowd thing, as it’s surprisingly static all night long. 

Rating: 7/10

By the time CRYPTA takes to the stage, this no-holds-barred, no barrier show in an upstairs bar doesn’t feel like a claustrophobically cramped closet — as all 150-capacity sold-out shows should feel — but luxuriously spacious instead. It’s a situation that doesn’t solve itself by the end of the show, so whether you blame it on it falling on a Tuesday night, or it simply wasn’t as sold-out, it’s an utter disservice to the sheer onslaught CRYPTA unleash upon the wooing faithful in attendance. 

With drummer Luana Dametto and guitarists Jéssica di Falchi and Tainá Bergamaschi already locked and loaded on stage, bassist and vocalist Fernanda Lira’s arrival is met with chronic cheers, before Lira’s shotgun blast gutturals shoot straight into the demolition derby that is The Other Side Of Anger. In a ridiculous opening run including heavyweight hitters Poisonous Apathy, Lift The Blindfold, and The Outsider, CRYPTA flex their melodeath muscles like they’ve downed a dozen pre-workout shakes. 

Sticking to the script of supporting last year’s Shades Of Sorrow, they play almost the entirety of the album in full, giving their debut Echoes Of The Soul just three songs of their set. Considering the heft of the hooks they injected into their DNA on Shades Of Sorrow, this plays into their favour as Lira’s demonic stage presence adds a theatrical fervour to festivities. Whether it’s the glam rock-era blowing hair, the Medusa-esque death stares, or her ability to constantly look possessed by demons, complete with The Undertaker-reminiscent eye-rolling. 

Dark Clouds gives Dametto the floor, a Trojan Horse of a drummer who’s fills in the flesh ricochet off your cranium like a point blank shotgun blast, whilst Agents Of Chaos is a brutal assault on the senses, more so live than on record. Unfortunately though, CRYPTA are anything but agents of chaos tonight — not through any fault of their own, the crowd just couldn’t be bothered to roll up their sleeves and play their part. 

By the time they bring it home with Lords Of Ruin and From The Ashes, the supposedly sold-out crowd is suspiciously thin. With a Main Stage slot at this year’s Bloodstock Open Air on the horizon, one can only hope CRYPTA get the crowd they deserve at Catton Park, rather than the one who let them down at The Asylum 2. 

Rating: 8/10

Like CRYPTA on Facebook.