KRYPTONOMICON Infernalia CD

The 2022 album Infernalia by the Italian band Kryptonomicon, released through Punishment 18 Records, is a fierce second full-length effort from this Monfalcone-based group. Emerging in late November 2022, the record continues the band's devotion to the old school fusion of Black and Thrash Metal, heavily inspired by early extreme pioneers like Celtic Frost, Hellhammer, and Possessed. The album features striking cover art by the renowned painter Paolo Girardi, whose dark, visceral style perfectly mirrors the morbid and blasphemous themes found within the eleven tracks. The tracklist is anchored by aggressive, rhythmic compositions such as Portae Inferi, I.n.r.i., and Kiss in the Gethsemane, along with the title track Infernalia and the atmospheric The Garden of Delights-Temptation. A notable and unexpected highlight of the release is the band's extreme metal cover of David Bowie's Let's Dance, which they reinterpret through their signature gritty lens. Recorded with a lineup featuring vocalist Luca Sterle (in his final recording with the band), guitarist Stefano Rumich, bassist Frank Ponga, and drummer Randy Legovini, the album captures a cavernous, analog-heavy sound that avoids modern over-production in favor of a raw, 80s-inspired intensity.