You have to admire the ambition of American doom troupe Crypt Sermon, who have given themselves some very big boots to fill for their third full-length album, The Stygian Rose.

For starters, in the press release that came with the review download of the album, they stake out their territory; They want the record to make you feel like you did when you heard a record for the first time as a teenager; There’s absolutely nothing wrong with a laudable wish such as that, even if it might be setting the bar to nosebleed-inducing heights from the get-go. But then they dig that hole deeper by mentioning the Black Album and (gulp) Operation: Mindcrime as possible benchmarks by which to judge their new album. Like I said, you have to admire ambition, But this, surely, is the equivalent of cutting the break leads before setting off on a journey…

Well, far be it for me to be knocked down with a feather but, half way through second track Thunder (Perfect Mind), you find yourself reflecting that maybe these blokes weren’t so rash – of course, this isn’t a record to be mentioned in the same breath as those two  I just mentioned but, well (he says, gathering up said piece of Avian Apparel) – The Stygian Rose ain’t half a ripper of a record…

Everything about the album, from Arthur Rizk‘s superb production to the superb personal performances of all involved, deserves the highest praise. This album does indeed sound as if it was recorded around the late eighties/early nineties, and on standout track Scrying Orb, a triumphant mix of Crimson Glory and Metal Church, everything slots into place to create a song that would now be hailed as a classic of US metal had it been released in 1988 – yes, it is that good.

Crypt Sermon have already carved a niche for themselves in the world of epic/doom metal via two solid outings but here they transcend that position and scream out their readiness to take on the big time, such as it is in 2024. The self-possessed swagger, embodied in the world-class vocals of Brooks Wilson but echoed in the coruscating axes of Steve Jansson and Frank Chin, the adamantine solidity of drummer Enrique Sagarnaga and bassist Matt Knox and the keyboard flourishes of Tanner Anderson points to a band that knows what it wants and, crucially, how to obtain that objective. This is proper heavy metal, nothing more, nothing less – and it’s bloody great. Hail!

The Stygian Rose releases on June 14th.