None So Vile - Cryptopsy

Following on from their raw and brutal if underdeveloped 1994 debut 'Blasphemy Made Flesh', Cryptopsy released what is almost universally regarded as the album of their careers in the form of their 1996 effort 'None So Vile'. 'None So Vile' deviates little from the formula of its predecessor, but simply does everything faster, heavier, tighter and more intensely. The album consists of jazz-influenced, whirlwind guitar riffs performed by Jon Levasseur (both lead & rhythm guitar) and insanely fast and technical blastbeat-and-drum-fill-heavy percussion courtesy of Flo Mournier with the band sounding as good as ever. As with the debut the songs still leap ...  Read the complete review

'None So Vile' is Cryptopsy's most famous album, and one of the defining works in the genre of technical death metal. With its flippant disregard for form and its desire to provoke all but the tiny minority of fans it's aimed towards, this is perhaps the definition of a love-it-or-loathe-it album. So just to be controversial, I think it's pretty average. This is half an hour of relentless, random death metal, taking delight in its lack of coherence. While each song maintains its momentum and interest throughout, none are particularly memorable or distinctive, and the whole thing needs to be taken as an experience rather than a collection of songs. The music is ...  Read the complete review