### Cryptopsy: Cryptopsy

#### 28/09/12 || Averatu

Their last album was “The unspoken king”. They brought in a new vocalist, they took a chance with a new direction, but instead of releasing an EP to test the waters as most record companies would have their bands do, they went full tilt and did a whole album. A lot of people, including Euthanatos, where fucking disappoint my son. And with something as personal as music, I guess it can kinda get really personal, and the fans expect bands to deliver to their lofty expectations, whether the bands want to or not. Although I don’t totally agree with his review, I do think it would have been better to have been a side project, as it did deviate quite radically from the Cryptopsy template we have came to love. Not that the template has ever been fixed too firmly in any case.

I lived with ‘Whisper supremacy’ on repeat for weeks on end at one stage, the chaos barely contained in the form of a song structure, and when you string them together you are compelled to ask yourself, will it blend? It was my favorite Cryptopsy album until recently. So now, if ever there has been a back to true form album, then this is it, as yet again I have a Cryptopsy album on repeat, fucking up all my planned listening for other stuff I’m supposed to review. Track 3, ‘Red skinned scapegoat’ has weaseled its way into my brain and has even had the fucking gall to make appearances in my dreams (That seems kinda fucked up now that I see that typed out in front of me), and I’ve found myself brainriffing (the act of replaying a song in your brain, bwa ha ha ha!) some of the other songs as well.

We have again a very prominent neoclassical element to the songs, mixed up with the grind-death riffs at break neck speed, which I guess may be attributed to the return of Jon Levasseur. And where things seemed to barely stick together on past albums, this is one very tight creature. In fact its so tight that I wonder how much ‘copy and paste’ production and general studio trickery was employed in the making of this album. For sure as fuck, if I where asked to play along to those drums, I would be like a valley girl, “huh”? Like where is the down beat, I cant find the down beat How the hell am I supposed to play this without dislocating my wrists. Why are you doing this to me you Candanadian bastards. When will this nightmare end. Which way to the nearest fire exit for my brain is burning. I can indeed see a whole bunch of frustrated drummers incurring fatigue injuries due to trying to catch up with Flo, bouncing basketballs with their feet and all.

For those who disliked the gay clean singing on “The unspoken king”, or for those with a general irrational aversion to scream-less vocalization, rest assured this album has all the growling and screaming and general sounds of pigs being slaughtered, and none of the offensive melodic stuff, just the way you would like it.

The band loses a point for the spazz jazz interlude towards the end of “Red skinned scapegoat”, and another half point for making the album about an hour too short. But the song title ‘Damned draft dodgers’ earns them back a point.

- Information
- Released: 2012
- Label: Self released
- Website: cryptopsy.ca
- Band
- Matt McGachy: vocals
- Jon Levasseur: guitars
- Christian Donaldson: guitars
- Olivier Pinard: bass
- Flo Mounier: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Two pound torch
- 02. Shag harbor’s visitors
- 03. Red skinned scapegoat
- 04. Damned draft dodgers
- 05. Amputated enigma
- 06. The golden square mile
- 07. Ominous
- 08. Cleansing the host