‘I once hoped to strive here, I never thought I’d die here.’
Our Death metal cousins Cryptopsy have surfaced after eleven years with a full length album, titled ‘As Gomorrah Burns’ and we can immediately make the connections to the state of the world today. The cities of Las Vegas and Los Angeles have been mooted as the modern day Gomorrah in the media, with their deviant and depraved antics, overstepping all moral codes and boundaries, and little left to the imagination. The decimation of Gomorrah is a biblical tale, and perhaps the collapse of society is an accurate parallel to be drawn.
The opening tracks both see the inevitable charred remains of the protagonist, ‘Lascivious Undivine’ and the single ‘In Abeyance’ are fighting tooth and nail to claw and scratch at our waiting fuselage.
A case of mistaken identity perhaps as a terrible infliction is riddled with doubt as to the need and nature of such violence in ‘Godless Deceiver’ a graphic description and display of power and vengeance ends with an abrupt ‘how were we supposed to know that we were all wrong’. Just horrific but typical of the way people think nowadays, answer with your fists first, then think about the consequences later.
This record is a convulsive heap of uncontrolled rage in a controlled setting, thankfully our brains are engaged in neutral, and we can see how the band are trying to show us what the world is like through their eyes, and sadly they’re not wrong. The thundering percussion and frets that cut deep all add to the gloriously gore filled interior.
Another disturbing topic is discussed in ‘Ill Ender’ tackling self-harm and how society has ostracised vulnerable people to the point that desperate measures are taken. The line ‘focus group shams’ is bleak yet true, many of these help groups can’t seem to address the core issues for a full and complete assessment and then the correct recovery program.
The whole album is over in 33 minutes, this shows the velocity at which we are travelling, hang onto your breeches my friends, there’s a storm coming. Incredibly fast, as wholesome as Death metal can be shimmering in its pearlescent glow, it is an utterly riveting listen. There are hints of Necrophagist and Carcass with sweet riffs in ‘Godless Deceiver’ for example, this is the band that devilishly play knock door run on Halloween and hide behind a tree chortling maniacally. The neck breaking switch from slow to fast is brilliantly played at 0.49 in ‘Obeisant’ just a miniscule pause then our souls leave our bodies.
Get on board the Cryptopsy bus before it leaves town, pack for a weekend and I promise you’ll stay forever.
Azra Pathan
Cryptopsy – As Gomorrah Burns out now.