All too often does a band we love release an album we can’t stand. Bands change frequently and release material which differs from their previous efforts, which is to be expected, but occasionally a band will release something so different and so horrendous that most of their fans will turn away in disgust. Such is the story of Cryptopsy and their 2008 album, The Unspoken King. The Unspoken King needs no introduction, as it is one of the most loathed albums in modern metal. Fast forward to 2012 and Cryptopsy is set to release their self-titled album on September 14th. Many people remain skeptical of a new Cryptopsy album after The Unspoken King, but they have no reason not to embrace this release with open arms.
When a band releases a horrendously awful album, they usually have a hard time recovering and getting back on the right track, but that’s exactly what Cryptopsy has done. The departure of Maggy Durand in 2008 eliminated any possibility of any keyboard presence on Cryptopsy, which was the first step in the right direction. Later, former bassist Youri Raymond stated that Johnathan Davis’s Matt McGachy’s clean vocals would not be appearing on the latest Cryptopsy record. In May of 2011, the band announced that Jon Levasseur, a major contributing force on earlier Cryptopsy albums, had returned to the band as lead guitarist. After all of these changes, it sounded as if Cryptopsy really was ready to release a return to form.
Cryptopsy, to put it plainly, is an excellent technical death metal album. It’s fast, brutal, and technical, and the jazzy interludes are tastefully done. It’s not quite the same as legendary albums from Cryptopsy’s heyday (such as None So Vile and Blasphemy Made Flesh), but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t excellent. The odd clean vocals are, indeed, nowhere to be found and Cryptopsy is essentially 35 minutes of relentless technical death metal.
As one would expect from Cryptopsy, the instrumentation showcased on Cryptopsy is excellent, especially with Levasseur back on board. The guitar riffs are excellent (the main riff on “Two-Pound Torch” is my personal favorite) and they have been very well thought-out, whereas most of the riffs on The Unspoken King ended up sounding dull and uninspired. As much as everyone seems to dislike Flo Mounier, his performance on Cryptopsy is excellent. Matt McGachy, another easily-dislikeable character, also puts up a solid performance, although his growls are largely unintelligible (which may or may not be a bad thing, depending on who you ask).
After everything is said and done, Cryptopsy should be embraced by old and new fans alike. Cryptopsy is an absolutely masterful display of modern death metal and has no deathcore nuances. Sure, The Unspoken King was a dud, but that doesn’t mean Cryptopsy is now incapable of releasing solid albums. They’ve picked themselves up and truly returned to their former greatness.
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