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Cryptopsy: Whisper supremacy

06/03/09 || The Duff

Ah, Cryptopsy, we hardly knew ye. That said, over the past week or so they’ve been occupying my hot-shit column of bands (or something…), with classics like the first two recently hitting me harder than ever and now later, more technically chaotic albums starting to settle in my mind once getting over the hurdle of DiSalvo’s vocals and the cacophony of it all – Cryptopsy are a talented outfit, for sure, although it would seem the quality of their albums has degraded gradually since the release of masterpiece “None So Vile”, as if the more straightforward death metal styles they harbored during their earlier stages suited them more proficiently; still, the follow-up to said album is a great listen, as they still had the gusto of youth to their favor, supplying the necessary, genuine anger that would continue their upholding of high metal standards, if only too wacky in places and not up to the level of the Lord Worm-era due to a shift in style to something more erratic and, as mentioned, of a more hardcore-ish nature.

The breakdowns on the first two albums were like getting a Christmas blowjob, and it’s Christmas every day of the year baby, so it’s of no surprise really that those on “Whisper Supremacy” don’t compare – the truth of the matter though is that some of it is just tiring, and I’m wondering if it’s due to newfound guitarist bleugh bleugh (how you pronounce his name in Canadian French) maybe bringing in some influences that don’t cut the mustard in a death metal band as frighteningly heavy as Cryptopsy, or due to the band’s desire to build something around vocalist DiSalvo’s hardcore screaming (not to be a dick, but they did water down for some emo kid on the new one, so maybe there’s a pattern). Amidst the rather dull material, however, is some of Cryptopsy’s finest work, and all with an added twist of insanity that shows an enormous evolutionary leap from their old-school beginnings, thereby labeling the band for the first time one that is truly original. The faster riffing is all fine, otherwise bordering genius, but it’ll take some time to wrap your head around; probably the finer aspect to the disc, as the slowest of tracks are those most lackluster (unfortunately, the final three tracks are all a little dull, so the pace of the album is askew, in my mind).

Flo is per usual the shining light in this band, and I think the times where the rest of Cryptopsy decide to deviate from frenetic tempos is when Flo is sick and tired of playing multiple rhythms at sickening speeds all in the space of a heartbeat. He blasts those skins like they owe him money, and everything else is a mix-up of styles (tribal, funky, hardcore etc.) that surprisingly gel resolutely with the rough attack of Jon Levasseur and Miguel Roy (speaking briefly of the guitarists, all of the solos are impeccable, sometimes saving the song as in the case of “Cold Hate, Warm Blood”). As I’ve mentioned before, it’s like having an extra guitar player such is the diversity of his drumming, and well, he’s served so many years within the extreme metal community I couldn’t care less what he decides to do with his band these days – his performance on each and every album is exemplary beyond words, and he’s given me enough times when I’ve had to triple-take to make sure I’d heard what was actually being played correctly; there are only five or so of his kind in death metal, in my opinion, and all belong to the finest of bands, the forefathers of death metal, the bologna of sandwiches.

To summarize, this isn’t exactly ground-breaking, but the jagged riffs that fly all over the place plus the interesting arrangements (whereby riffs intermingle to always keep you guessing, but where motifs are repeated, albeit in unexpected places, so as to bear some structure to the song) make this an original, chaotic affair. I would hint at a complaint concerning the vocals, but at times you can tell he’s paying homage to Lord Worm, he just doesn’t have the range or the skill for it – still, his performance isn’t as bad as some would have you believe, just very intrusive. Our favorite teacher, who you’d probably be less likely to want to have around your kids than a pedophile, does make a guest appearance, as well as contribute his usual malignant lyrical fruits of labor, so it’s not as though his high-pitched shrieks/dark literary pieces that send shivers to the tip of your cock are completely lacking. All in all, though, I don’t think this album is for everybody; great riffs abound, I can’t help but feel it’s pointless when taking into account the first two exceptional releases – Cryptopsy have already achieved all they needed to with the two efforts preceding this, and the “shake you around ‘til your ass drops out” edge the disc has is rather superfluous when tech death bands do it better whilst retaining more of a musical touch and less of a need to violate your face. For a fan of the band, this has some mighty fine material (tracks like “White Worms” and album opener, for example), for the rest, find chaos and technicality elsewhere, and just pick up the debut and sophomore for death metal’s finest.

8 albums for fans out of 10.

Information

Released: 1998
Label: Centruy Media
Website: www.cryptopsy.net
Band
Jon Levasseur: guitar
Flo Mounier: drums
Eric Langlois: bass
Miguel Roy: guitars
Mike DiSalvo: vocals

Tracklist
01. Emaciate
02. Cold hate, warm blood
03. Loathe
04. White worms
05. Flame to the surface
06. Depths you’ve fallen
07. Faceless unknown
08. Serpent’s coil

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