Cryptopsy – "An Insatiable Violence"

"... And the Lifetime Achievement Award for Most Spot-on Album Title Ever goes to..."

Yeah, I know: Almost 4 months since this sucker came out. But there's a good reason I'm still choosing to advertise this one in spite of the delay. And yeah, I might as well use the word 'advertise' right away.

When dealing with an album like this one – i.e., an album that make words more or less superfluous – it can be hard to know where to begin. So I'll just start from the beginning:

Cryptopsy's 9th LP kicks open the gates to an unimaginable inferno with a bestial riff and a white-hot violent drum blast that starts recklessly fast, but after less than one second thrusts up into 'incomprehendibly fast'. The growl, while not much deeper or more guttural than most other death metal vocalists, is somehow still more aggressive – just like everything else here.

In short, this is the most intense aggression I've ever heard. This makes everything else sound wimpy. The tonality – if it's even possible to talk about one such – is constantly sordid. There is only little variation in the vocals, but there doesn't have to be. Because the whole idea here is mercilessness, and it's being carried out to a T.

"An Insatiable Violence" lives up to its title better than virtually all other albums ever released.

There's a half-time section, but those constant vocals are still relentlessly punishing the listener, and it's not long until we're back in a Stygian blast beat blizzard. There's one melodic theme turning into an equally melodic solo over a well-known, melodic cadence. But just as redemptive as that is, things get just as incredibly violent and infernal as they, once again, explode in blasts, screams, and profanely distorted, dissonant riffs that sound like a constant, animalistic mockery of everything beautiful ever created by our feeble species.

… And that is fucking beautiful in itself.

I'm blown away already. This is around my 8th or 9th spin of this album, and by the second track, I'm still sitting in disbelief with my lower jaw dingling. I can't believe this aggression. This is otherworldly. Cryptopsy is channeling their energy from someone/something which I'm imagining looks like what's on their album cover. The riffs are inhumanly fierce; the intensity is just as inhuman.

In spite of the variations, everything is extremely constant. Suddenly, there's a laid-back half-time with singular chord blocks; then one riff that's a bit laid-back as well. But even given any and all variety here, the entire album simply has an extra, inherent layer of pure unapproachability. Sometimes you can put your finger on it – for example, the riffs seem to have some harmonies in them that make for an incessant dissonance. Not intolerable, but enough that it'll still grate against your ear drums. And other times, "An Insatiable Violence" simply feels all-round disturbing. Perhaps, if for no other reason, then because it lives up to its title better than virtually all other albums ever released.

Given the extreme, unyielding nature of this music, then, this is a case where the instances of variation stick out as points of interest all the more so. For example, "The Art of Emptiness" opens with a descending semi-tone figure over two chords in a slow pace. The vocals are halfway growled, halfway whispered. And "Our Great Deception" starts with a clean and neat little Minor-key piece that reappears later as a guitar solo backdrop. And check out that insane pinched-harmonics figure with those equally insane bass drum salvos entering on top.

I can't believe this aggression. This is otherworldly. Cryptopsy is channeling their energy from someone/something which I'm imagining looks like what's on their album cover.

The drums are pretty much doing constant fills and variations, and I would have liked it if they'd been doing the same thing for a bit more than 1 or 2 bars at a time. But how blessed I am to witness a mad performance like this. In the same way, the riffs do virtually nothing but pure evil. – For example, check out those wicked, dissonant bends incorporated into the guitar figure in "Embrace the Nihility". These riffs could only be metal riffs; they could not possibly be translated into any other genre. I've talked about this phenomenon before; this is probably the best example I've come across to date.

I wish there were more to say about an artistic creation such as this one. I could, though – I could pursue descriptions, explanations, and elucidations upon everything that's going on here. Hell, I enjoy sitting around and coming up with juicy metaphors and phraseologies. However, "An Insatiable Violence" is also a textbook example, if any, of an album that should simply be experienced. And all the more so, an album that'll take spin after spin without wearing out.

If you're into real fucking death metal of the most pitiless caliber, you have to check this one out. You will want to own it, and ideally, you'll be playing it once or twice per year going forward – whenever you're at your most misanthropic and feel like slaughtering all the wimps and posers of the world.

Because "An Insatiable Violence" does exactly that. And even with the blinding new album from Hate out this year, this one just couped the #1 ranking in its genre.

Rating: 5.5 out of 6

Genre: Brutal death metal
Release date: 20/6/2025
Label: Season of Mist
Producer: Christian Donaldson