Formed in Munich in 2023, Kryptoportikus might be a new name to readers of the Midlands Rocks, but the band are no strangers to the world of heavy music. Both Chris Techritz (guitars) and Franz Herde (vocals) both play in progressive thrashers Carrier, and while their current project isn’t a radical departure, it allows the pair to explore darker textures and more doomy realms. After two well-received singles, the band release their debut long player, Dark Rainbow, featuring a dozen diverse tracks that lead towards a bright pot of gold.
With the help of several guest musicians, Chris and Franz have produced an album that’s vast in scope and threaded together by a strong concept. While it is perfectly feasible to dip in and out of this album and enjoy each track individually, it is best consumed whole and in one sitting to fully appreciate its ebb and flow and storyline arc. ‘Stormy Seas’ is a cinematic instrumental with which to introduce the album, and aided by a vast and expansive production it bears down upon the listener with oceanic force. It sets things up nicely for the following ‘Imperial Machine’ and it is here where the band really hit their stride. Powered forth by a chugging riff, it marches like an invading army and stomps from speaker to speaker with unbridled menace. Franz Herde is undoubtedly one of metal’s best kept secrets and he has a wonderfully elastic voice that becomes an instrument in itself to add another melodic dynamic that entwines the guitar like ivy.
Concept albums can be a difficult discipline to master; often artists can become so focused that tracks are included for no other reason than to move the story forwards. Dark Rainbows is linked by certain themes and Greek mythology, yet Kryptoportikus keep tight reign on the album’s narration and subsequently there’s not one superfluous note on here. When clarification is required then a monologue from Trina Deuhart (‘Medusa’s Speech’) provides the necessary information. Yet even this is inserted at the optimum moment; sitting in the middle of the album it’s kind of like an interval at the theatre which separates two acts.
Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson once dubbed good heavy metal “theatre of the mind” and that’s exactly what Kryptoportikus serve up. On ‘The Curse Of Medusa’ the protagonist becomes three-dimensional and you can almost see the steely-eyed stare and snakes writhing on her head. Similarly, the triptych that comprises ‘Argonautica’ is like a story within a story, wheels spinning within wheels, and gives the album real depth and like the mythical end of a rainbow, you’ll never fully unpick the mysteries of this record. That makes Dark Rainbow an album that’ll reward repeat plays as subtle (and not so) nuances are revealed on successive spins. My only (minor) complaint with this album are the programmed drums, it means that the bottom end is rather light and Dark Rainbow would have been even more powerful if the drums had packed the requisite punch.
But that’s a minor quibble and Dark Rainbow is an assured debut and one which promises future mayhem.
- Dark Rainbow is released via Fastball Music.
- Backstage PRO | YouTube
Track List:
- Stormy Seas
- Imperial Machine
- Dark Rainbow
- The Wandering Of Ulysses
- Argonautica Part I
- Ruins Of Troy
- Medusa’s Speech
- The Curse Of Medusa
- Argonautica Part II
- The Oracle
- Sparta And Athens
- Argonautica Part III
