LIVE REVIEW: Cryptopsy @ Slay, Glasgow
Technical death metal Canadians CRYPTOPSY are impressively playing live in Glasgow for the third time in three years. The band has endured a bumpy career since the second departure of beloved vocalist Lord Worm. They have depleted a lot of respect since releasing the heavily maligned deathcore release The Unspoken King, way back in 2006. Since then, sole original member and mainman Flo Mounier has struggled to help CRYPTOPSY ascend anywhere close to their former glory…until now. This tour advertises the live performance of the seminal album None So Vile for its 30th anniversary. And the Glasgow metal faithful have ensured this gig is sold out.
Complementing the veterans is new flesh, 200 STAB WOUNDS, a popular US death metal troupe that has rapidly amassed a cult following. They were very keenly received when they played the same venue with CATTLE DECAPITATION two years ago, and tonight is more of the same. Undoubtedly, many turned out just to watch their set. Their metal is thrashy, influenced by hardcore, has blistering solos and features slam death metal drops for the congregation to really sink their teeth in – these moments translate extremely well in the live environment.
While the sound is poor for the first song, it improves afterwards and sounds as blunt as a cudgel. The only downside is Steve Buhl’s vocals. It sounds like he’s strained them on tour as they’re higher-pitched and more yelpy than his recorded deeper growls. This doesn’t detract much from the performance, supported by the feral pit that sustains through most of the set. Most of their latest album, Manual Manic Procedures, is served up tonight, alongside popular older songs. A hybridisation of Skin Milk and Tow Rope Around the Throat, Itty Bitty Pieces, Parricide and Defiled Gestation hit their target and provide the most memorable bludgeoning of their show. Once again, they leave sweaty and impressed spectators with condensation raining from the ceiling.
Rating: 8/10
The anticipation for CRYPTOPSY is insane, and the punters are chomping at the bit as METALLICA’s For Whom the Bell Tolls plays over the PA. The Canadians detonate Slit Your Guts from None So Vile first, inciting pure violence in the pit as the centre of Slay morphs into a tornado of bodies. However, despite this incredible song, the sound is poor. The guitars sound sludgy and nearly dissonant, blunting the razor-sharp riffs that are the cornerstone of this classic release. The following song Until There’s Nothing Left is from the band’s newest full-length, An Insatiable Violence. The gulf between this new music and None So Vile is stark. There’s a distinct lack of engrossing hooks, tension building and energetic expulsions. This is mirrored by the pauses in moshing that come with this song and other younger selections tonight.
Naturally, the None So Vile prime cuts are the highlights of the evening. The likes of Graves of the Fathers, Crown of Horns and Benedictine Convulsions are unrepentantly demonic yet technical. Vocalist Matt McGachy doesn’t match Lord Worm’s broad vocal variety, sinisterness and atmosphere (he sounds like a colossal theropod on the record) at all, and McGachy’s high-pitched vocals really don’t suit the music. Fortunately, Mounier’s drumming remains jaw-dropping. The mosh pit is hyper-violent for each None So Vile song, with a few walls of death charges through the night. Serial Messiah from the excellent Blasphemy Made Flesh debut is another welcome classic song. Naturally, CRYPTOPSY’s most popular song, Phobophile, yanks the strongest reaction, with a circle pit going during the taped piano intro before more carnage is heaved on the venue. This is followed by Orgiastic Disembowlment, which weirdly doesn’t have much moshing; perhaps everyone’s exhausted after pummeling their brains out to the favourite song.
New track Malicious Needs is served up with McGachy announcing that this is the last song and thanking the audience. This is another disappointment, considering Lichmistress and Dead and Dripping are on None So Vile, yet are not aired tonight. CRYPTOPSY are a legacy act at this point, and it feels like calling the tour ‘All So Vile’ to reel in more punters misrepresents what we actually received; ‘Some So Vile’ would have been more honest. It’s reminiscent of their terrible decision to commemorate Blasphemy Made Flesh’s 30th anniversary with just a medley. Ah, well.
Rating: 6/10
Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in Glasgow from Duncan McCall here:
Like CRYPTOPSY on Facebook.