Self-released – 2012 – Canada
Canadian death/grind legends CRYPTOPSY were crucified by the critics for their experimental album “The Unspoken King” from 2008.The deathcore elements and the clean singing of Matt McGachy were not accepted by the fans.The result was that Century Media and CRYPTOPSY parted their ways.Four years later,the Canadians are back with a vengeance.
“Cryptopsy” marks the return of the original guitar player Jon Levasseur and a new bassist in the face of Olivier Pinard who is coming from the Canadian extremists NEURAXIS.The rest of the band are:Christian Donaldson (guitars),Matt McGachy (vocals) and the main engine of CRYPTOPSY,the drum monster Flo Mournier.The opening track “Two-Pound Torch” shows clearly that this record is not “The Unspoken King” part 2.Matt McGachy’s vocals have changed a lot – his roars are much deeper and furious than on the previous album and fortunately there isn’t a trail of clean singing.It’s pointless to say that Flo Mournier as usual destroys totally his drum-kit,proving why he is one of the best extreme metal drummers in the world today.Same can be said about Jon Levasseur – his fingers are creating maniacal guitar riffs and insanely fast leads.In “Red-Skinned Scapegoat” there is a surprise – the all-out death/grind attack suddenly transforms into a smooth jazz passage which lasts several seconds until the brutality hits you again like a ton of bricks.Other notable track is “The Golden Square Mile” where you can hear the skills of the new bass player Olivier Pinard.There are slightly deathcore elements in “Cryptopsy” but don’t worry – this album is super technical death/grind from the beginning ’till the end.And this is what CRYPTOPSY do best.The new album may be not on the level of a classic title like “None So Vile” but is one good album for sure!
8/10
