I know. You have no idea why you’re being served political ads on your social media platforms that vehemently disagree with you. You block them and more appear. You can’t seem to get ahead of this no matter what you do, and after a while, you realize all you’re doing is trying to make corrections to something unfixable. You’re stuck here.
“An Insatiable Violence” is the new record from long-running technical death metal power Cryptopsy, and these eight songs and their theme are like glimpses into our psyche. Vocalist Matt McGachy got the idea of a story where each day a person wakes up and tries to fix a machine, only to find torture and frustration at every corner. It consumes this person, yet every day, they return. The algorithmic cages that capture us is a clear example of this, and it’s enough to upend on our lives. The rest of the band—guitarist Christian Donaldson, bassist Oli Pinard, drummer/backing vocalist Flo Mounier—adds insane precision, speed, and savagery to these songs, making it one of their most bloodthirsty yet. Nine records in, this band shows no slowing, no mercy, and no solace as the cycles in which we’re trapped repeat until we die or we finally give up the machine.
“The Nimis Adoration” immediately tears the lid off the thing, and from this point, there’s nary a moment to breathe on this thing. It’s maniacal and it ravages, and you expect that, and they deliver. McGachy’s penchant for toggling between shriek and growl remains impeccable, and swampy, brutal power brings this to an end. “Until There’s Nothing Left” pulverizes, screams maiming, the pounding feeling like it’s inside your brain. Bass reverberates as the pace thrashes, the soloing melting the bones in your meat suit, crushing fury ramping up and spilling over the sides. “Dead Eyes Replete” unleashes hell, punishing as the vocals smear, aggravating a monstrous response that turns into a full-on attack. The screws tighten as the screams destroy, and the final moments nail you to the floor. “Fools Last Acclaim” has the drums decimating, snarling power crawling, and the growls squashing bowels. The insanity manages to come even more unglued, the ferocity reaching dangerous levels, guitars spiraling and smoking, everything ending abruptly.
“The Art of Emptiness” is spacious as it dawns, letting fog encircle McGachy’s doomed speaking, a calculated pace threatening to blow. And it does as flesh is fed to the gears, growls twisting and wrenching, mashing as guitars lather. The viciousness continues to flood over, slipping into strange noises and right into “Our Great Deception” that also has some newer colors. The guitars trickle and even tease jazziness, and then everything gushes to life, charring and charging, feeling mostly unhinged. Leads soar and glisten and even give off a power metal shine, the zaniness multiplies and tramples, and all-around loopiness makes for a dizzying finish. “Embrace the Nihility” starts hypnotically, eventually blistering and trudging, growls boiling as the guitars slash. The pace fully engulfs as crazed screams cut into thick streams of melody, and the darting chaos ends in madness. Closer “Malicious Needs” utterly destroys, the drumming making powder from bones, sinewy leads disturbing brain functions. Vicious growls go for the throat as gargantuan punishment is force fed, and then things unexpectedly cool, blurring like obscuring clouds, fading into a fog.
“An Insatiable Violence” certainly is a grind, and a powerful one, and its commentary on how we continually find new ways to torture ourselves mentally is heard loud and clear. This is one of the most savage records in Cryptopsy’s storied catalog, and after logging three decades as a band, they still manage to find more than enough ways to remain violent but also thought provoking. This is a battering ram that knows no quit, and if you’re somehow unprepared for this, get ready to be consumed body and mind by this machine.
For more on the band, go here: https://cryptopsyofficial.bandcamp.com/
To buy the album, go here: https://orcd.co/cryptopsyaninsatiableviolence
For more on the label, go here: https://www.season-of-mist.com/
Meat Mead Metal 