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Class 6(66)
Cryptopsy: Blasphemy made flesh
12/08/08 || The Duff
Released: 1994
Introduction
Far be it from me to judge a band for changing its musical leanings, but Cryptopsy are an underground legendary act that is most well respected for its earliest two records (maybe even three, if one is willing to overlook the far too intrusive DiSalvo on vocals). “None So Vile” is considered one of death metal’s most important albums, and it’s true, they hit everything on the head with that album, but due to the band’s earliest incarnation (namely Necrosis) and time allowed them to spend honing their sound, Cryptopsy released a debut album that, although nowhere near as revolutionary as the band’s sophomore, is still some of the finest music death metal has to offer.
Songwriting
8. With the band’s sophomore album, Cryptopsy became a band with a sound easily identifiable as their own. On the debut, the differences in style between it and what would follow are ridiculously pronounced. Nothing but the band’s influences are to be situated on “Blasphemy Made Flesh”, but the music is really top-notch, with some of the finest breakdowns I’ve heard the sub-genre deliver, matched (and, well, surpassed) only by masters Suffocation and Gorguts, the latter of which had a huge impact on the band throughout its development – ‘cept for the shitty new one.
Production
6. I have the re-issue, which I figure has been re-mixed/re-mastered and whatever else – re-worked, basically. I’ve been told that it is an improvement, but then I’m guessing if you like rough-edged productions and all that is troo, you’d prefer the original – thing is, I don’t think it’s in print anymore. The production on the re-issue isn’t great, and it may take several listens to grow accustomed to it; the guitars are far too thin, and it’s tough to decipher all that’s being played. The bass does come out on top, but then it isn’t all too complementary to this style of death metal; the drums sound great, but I wouldn’t put it past most of this being down to Flo being such an incredible drummer.
Guitars
7. I’ve always thought the guitars on a Cryptopsy album were flawlessly played, with bucketloads of talent, but were too much all over the place – the band really depends on Flo to hold it all together. I know what you’re thinking, that that’s the role of any drummer, but I reckon many death metal tracks could pass off as music with the drums removed, no matter how many polyrhythmic/start-stop/fuck yer dog sections there were. The music on “Blasphemy…” is great, yet doesn’t have the freshness or constant shifting patterns of later albums; in short, this album is a bit predictable as far as Cryptopsy goes, but then the riffs are old-school awesome, and their more direct nature makes them easier to appreciate.
Vocals
10. Lord Worm, an English teacher capable of writing some heavily disturbed lyrics, is the most versatile, talented death metal vocalist, period. I also think him to be death metal’s most extreme vocalist – the guy isn’t to everyone’s taste, but no one can deny that he is one of few performers able to sound truly possessed. Some of his most guttural lows are unmatched by many, yet where he truly shines is with the high-pitched shrieks that sound like a tranny-banshee that has had enough of “yet another case of the crabs”. One reason for which I prefer this record over the classic follow-up is purely Worm’s vocals, which are a mixture of haunted, disturbed and slightly sexual, and far less than the predominantly low-end variety that would be plastered all over the band’s sophomore.
Bass
8. Martin Ferguson’s parts are way up front, at times to the point where the low-end instrument is leading. The guy is very talented, on par with the rest of the band, and possibly one of death metal’s more impressive musicians. He has been awarded a very light, sharp tone that would go on to be taken up by other tech death bands such as Martyr and Gorod, bands that feared not the removal of the spinal low-end bass from the overall sound, allowing it to flutter and frolic majestically through the inter-twining dual-guitar attack – although this isn’t quite where such a light sound to the instrument belongs, as Cryptopsy have oft been thought of as one of death metal’s heaviest bands; so an eight for skill, seven overall for the ill-chosen sound awarded Martin’s parts.
Drums
10. Having Flo Mounier on drums is like having an extra bass player and guitarist in your ranks. He breathes new life into every riff with his style and most of all his creativity. Fuck, this band is a supergroup with the drummer and vocalist alone, when I think about it; when it comes to where the listener’s attention should be directed when absorbing death metal, none demand it more than Flo Mounier when it comes to drummers.
Lyrics
9. As mentioned, Lord Worm is an English teacher – this means that a lot of what he writes is twisted poetry with some very interesting rhyming schemes. I would say that at times he weirds me out too much (take that as you will – from someone who has spoken openly about his double-fisting sessions with Michael Chiklis), but I cannot deny the man’s genius.
Cover art
4. People bitch about the quality of the re-issue artwork (which could be either a deformed rose-bush, a microscopic image of a cell structure with a forest in the background, or a wigwam), but the original isn’t all too startling. An eyeball in a structure made of what appears to be either ice or bone (I’m inclining towards the former as there’s a body of water in the background) with some contorted faces and lots of sharp bits. I think the two combined, an average of four is pretty generous.
Logo
1. I like the webbing, but otherwise the Cryptopsy logo is the Gorguts one plagiarized.
Booklet
2. A good picture of the band on the back, but other than that some mundane spectroscopy of something that is probably a dismembered penis, and a close-up of someone’s eye (from what I can make out) – very boring.
Overall and ending rant
8. I’m not the most passionate of Cryptopsy fans, even though I enjoy exactly five out of six of their full-length outputs. I still consider them to be one of the most innovative and exciting death metal bands to have hit us in the past twenty years. The band’s first two efforts are clearly their most old-school, probably heaviest and least original albums, and probably stand as their best – I would recommend this as one of the last Cryptopsy albums you should own next to “Once Was Not” (excluding the abomination that is the latest), but it still stands as a classic album filled with extremely memorable death metal of the upmost standard, just not as original or as mature/forward-thinking as later efforts.
