ALBUM REVIEW: Bionic Swarm – Cryptosis

The year is 2149. It’s in this dystopian landscape filled with futuristic technological advances that we are introduced to Bionic Swarm. It’s the debut concept album from Dutch progressive thrash mob CRYPTOSIS and features eight individual sci-fi stories influenced by the likes of Black Mirror and other similar futuristic projects. It’s a perfect example of how a tweak of style and change of sound can progress your career in all the right ways. Born from the ashes of the old school thrash stylings of DISTILLATOR, CRYPTOSIS use the blueprint put down by past releases but they allow their influences and love for varying styles of metal to eek through. At the heart of everything lies the retro thrasher within them but with a fresh coating of symphonic power and drive mixed with a modern-sounding production.  

After an ominous intro, we’re greeted with the first foray into this distant version of earth. Decypher opens with a tapping section that soon erupts into chaos as the riffs kick in. Make no mistake, while the guys have altered their sound, they have not abandoned their roots. Much in the same vein as bands like KREATOR, they have added more elements of melodic and a symphonic stomp to their tracks that give them a much grander feel. An incredible solo rips through the track at the 3/4 mark as the riffs bleed through underneath. It’s a killer introduction to the album and stands as an early highlight.  

Tracks such as Death Technology and Conjuring The Egoist show of CRYPTOSIS‘ blistering pace, the latter having one of the most epic choruses on the album and is home to many headbanging moments. Lead vocalist Laurens Houvast’s riffs are infectious throughout, never failing to get heads banging with equal amounts of speed and groove. His vocals are typical of thrash vocals but are constantly solid throughout. Drummer Marco Prij is a machine and his tag team with bassist Frank Di Riet is remarkable. Their playing is tight and concise throughout the entirety of the album. 

While those tracks show off their ability within the thrash genre, songs such as Prospect of Immortality displays a new style of song-writing for the band, not seen before in their past life as DISTILLATOR. It’s a moodier, steadier and more progressive affair while still staying true to their core sound. The mid-section sees an almost CHILDREN OF BODOM-esque gallop. Their love for symphonic metal surrounds many of these tracks with elements of DIMMU BORGIR and DREAM THEATER being present a lot of the time. Later album track Mindscape is another good example of what we could hear from CRYPTOSIS in the future with it’s slow, brooding build with eerily fantastic synth elements adding to the overall dark tone to the album.  

Transcendence takes a look at the future of AI and is another perfect example of their newfound love of adding moments to melody to the madness, while finisher Flux Divergence ends proceedings in full-blown bedlam mode with high pitched vocal yelps akin to that of old school ANNIHILATOR.  

Bionic Swarm is a magnificent debut that mixes old school thrash with symphonic elements without becoming overblown. Each track provides it’s own story and is filled with infectious riffs and effective drumming. It’s a perfect example of how a changeup of sound and style can be beneficial going forward. It’s a melting pot of thrash and modern metal that is expertly executed in this killer debut.  

Rating: 8/10

Bionic Swarm is set for release on March 26th via Century Media Records. 

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