Review: The Cryptex – Nimbus

Style: Art Rock, Hard Rock, Crossover Prog, Alt Metal (Mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Faith No More, The Dear Hunter, Fair to Midland, Pain of Salvation
Review by: Christopher
Country: Germany
Release date: 29 September, 2023

In spite of the snobbish stereotype, I find prog to be a rather accepting genre because we take in the waifs and strays the mainstream genres can’t handle; the oddities, who might not be progressive per se, but who are nevertheless a little too strange for the music normies. Modern groups like Diablo Swing Orchestra, Moron Police, and Igorrr follow in the steps of the original too-weird-for-your-friends groups like Primus, They Might Be Giants, and Ween. O’ musicians of the world, come to the prog nerds: give us your wired, your weird, your huddled headcases yearning to be known as misunderstood geniuses. 

Nimbus is the fourth album from German outfit The Cryptex whose off-kilter sound blends together hard rock/alt metal (they’re basically the same) with art rock weirdness, a theatrical sensibility, and a knowing sense of ironic nostalgia. The overall effect is like the offbeat nineties rock of Faith No More with a The Dear Hunter gloss; that sense is only strengthened by vocalist Simon Moskon whose unique timbre alternately reminds me of Mike Patton, Lou Reed, and Danny Elfman.

“Cobra” doles out the Faith No More vibes with its *ahem* epic intro, thick barre chord riffs, and Mike Patton-esque blend of nasal cleans versus whispered harshes. Meanwhile “Sugarleaf” retains the uncanny hard rock vibe but gets into more theatrical territory: a chorus more befitting Mr Bungle, a simple yet effective tapping solo, and ending on a hair metal stomp—it’s perhaps the best encapsulation of The Cryptex’s bizarre blend of influences, and as the album goes on, you can’t help but wonder what their cover of “Epic” would be like. Ooh, or maybe “Ashes to Ashes”?

The theatrics grow as the album progresses; you know “Vampira” by Devin Townsend? Imagine that for a whole album. The musical-tinged chorus and cheesy lyrics of “Nimbus” double down on the theatrics, “Devils Casino” verges on full-blown Diablo Swing Orchestra territory with its swing sensibility and interspersions of flute and jazzy keys, and sincere, epic ballad “The Day We Will Meet Again” features an epic orchestral section and a rather moving outro motif. The slightly tongue-in-cheek, goth theatre-kid character of Nimbus often puts me in mind of The Nightmare Before Christmas—[editor’s note: a swarm of thirty-two year old goths is now about to find The Cryptex and tear them limb from limb in excitement]—and the distorted spoken word on “Abyss” only adds to that Oogie Boogie vibe. 

And that’s the biggest issue I have with Nimbus—how much cheesy, nineties-tinged, weirdo rock can you stomach in one sitting? There’s a contingent of listeners who’ll go apeshit for this stuff, but for me the self-consciously quirky shtick wears thin with time. That and I always want proggier from any band but I can hardly hold that against a band (although every band I review automatically loses a point for not being Wilderun¹). The Cryptex are consummate musicians and they’ve absolutely pinned down their niche—the unrepresentatively straightforward hard rock opener “Fall Down” is a rare misstep within their sound and the pacing of the album—it’s all about whether you like that niche. 

Do you remember when Korn, Sonic Youth and Faith No More were the coolest bands around, and that you could watch Buffy on The WB channel? The Cryptex remember! Do you remember playing Jet Set Radio on the Sega Dreamcast and the Zapatista Uprising of 1994? The Cryptex remember! Nimbus is a rather likeable record in spite of its coolly irony and gimmicky retroness. There’s an audience out there yearning for stuff like The Cryptex, and I dearly hope they find them.

Recommended tracks: Sugarleaf, Devils Casino, The Day We Will Meet Again
You may also like: Septa, Human by Nature, The Erkonauts
Final verdict: 7/10

1. I want to be clear that this was a joke, in reality I rate Wilderun out of 11 and everyone else out of 10. ↩︎

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitter

Label: Independent

The Cryptex is:
– Simon Moskon (vocals, piano)
– André-Jean-Henri Mertens (guitar, backing vocals)
– David Silesu (bass, backing vocals)
– Markus Kleiner (drums, percussion)