Luke:I can't remember when this was sent to me but it was a minute or so before the record actually came out and I don't believe that it was the final master or anything. There has been quite a bit to do about this record for the most part because of three things.
There was the exit of Lord Worm (again), and then all of this hubub about clean vocals entering the mix as well as a keyboard player. Needless to say the first songs that I heard from this were god awful to my ears. I think they were fairly underproduced and the presence of the clean vocals turned me off immediately as it did with a good majority of fans around the world judging from the chatter.
But I'm glad I took a listen to the final product in it's entirety.
Let me start out by saying that this isn't a total throw away. There is quite a bit of strong material on here and I can't deny it for this. Yes, there is something of a stylistic change to the album as a whole from their past records but hints of those classics can be heard... for the first three tracks or so I'd say.
Lord Worm left big shoes to fill after his departure and there has been quite a bit of speculation as to whether Matt McGachy could hang. A lot of people said the same for Mike DiSalvo and I thought what he did with the band was killer. He added a bit of range to it at the time even though he wasn't full on guttural. That being said, McGachy certainly holds his own here in terms of sheer vocal diversity. It is clear he has a talent for using a number of different approaches vocally. His highs are raspy and the lows are at the very least intelligible. The problem is that the cleans are not what I want to hear from this band. I respect his talent for what it is but when clean vocals come in, I am immediately reminded of those old Glassjaw records. I didn't mind them and actually checked out the band live a couple times and was pleased with their live show. But, Cryptopsy has a legacy of punishment and the last thing I want in a Cryptopsy record is melodic vocals. You'll hear this for the first time at :38 in "Bemoan the Martyr" and probably become enraged and turn the record off immediately like I did.
I think from the standpoint of vocal ability as a whole, Matt McGachy has DiSalvo and Worm hands down. He's got a much wider range and although I'm not a fan of the clean vocals, he does have singing ability. This is just not the venue to showcase that. 2:03 in "Leach" is a point where I was almost convinced that this was going to turn into a Juliana Theory record or some shit.
That being said, the riffs here for the most part are solid and what I would expect from a new Cryptopsy record and certainly more memorable than anything on 'Once was Not (which, unfortunately, isn't saying much.)' There are a lot of idiots who have said that the riffs here are standard deathcore pap and I disagree. They're still complex and crushing. The tone is excellent and you can hear everything that's going on. So it's not a complete loss in that department even though the presence of the unbelievably intrusive clean vocals make the parts in which they are present, good guitar composition and tone notwithstanding, unbearable to listen to.
Not much needs to be said for the drumming. If you are familiar with Cryptopsy then you are aware of Mounier's skill and his sound.
As for the keyboard addition, to be honest, I didn't hear much. On the parts where they venture into the "poppier" side for lack of better term, there are a couple of hints that an X8 may be involved or something similar. But, the point is that they are unneeded.
The bottom line is that this is going to turn off 99 percent of OG Cryptopsy fans. And I understand it. I'd say get ahold of the first three tracks and don't waste your time with this if you are opposed to people straying from a tried and true path.
I have a feeling that I'm going to be seeing quite a few 13 year old kids wearing brand new Cryptopsy shirts from Hot Topic.
My vote? 2 out of 5.
Joe:
I think Luke hit the nail on the head when he said that the "bottom line is that this is going to turn off 99 percent of OG Cryptopsy fans." And sadly, I am one of those people. I have been listening to the band for around 10 years now and for me this Album is a massive dissappointment.
Where I stray a bit is at the point of the bands loss of Lord Worm. In recent years I have come to dislike Worm's voice and style, so when I heard that he was once again no longer in the band I got a bit excited that they would be getting a new vocalist and the possibility of vocals that, to me, would be a little thicker in tone and have a little more range. So when it was announced that Matt McGachy from 3 Mile Screem would be thier new vocalist, I had high hopes. Those hopes were quickly erased when I heard the 2 umixed and unmastered tracks that were leaked to the internet.
At first I thaught that maybe these tracks were a joke and not actually by Cryptopsy. Upon listening to this album, i learned it was no joke and that this was the new version of Cryptopsy.
Looking at this album objectively and with the best set of fresh eyes I can, it really could be worse, but for a band of Cryptopsy's stature, its pathetic at best. The musicianship is great as always, but what they chose to do with it is highly questionable. True, bands evolve over time and its healthy for any group of musicians to do so, but in this case I have suspicions that the change in sound may be a cheap attempt at becomming "more accessable" and appealing to the Hot Topic crowds. it is no help that they added the ever trendy female keyboardist to the bands line up and as expected, you cant even hear her playing on hardly any of the songs. At the points in which keyboards are distinguishable, the musicianship is subpar at best, which leads me to believe this is another move by the band to appeal to another audience.
My bottom line for this album is that songs like ""Bemoan The Martyr" and "Contemplate Regicide" are not forrays into a more diverse sound but rather a foray into garbage. No one will argue that the band doesn't have chops but for me, Cryptopsy seems to have evolved into a cheaper version of thier montreal peers, Despised Icon but with the distasteful melody of "nu-metal" stalwarts Mushroomhead. Though I am a fan of the hardcore infused death metal of DI, I dont think that the world needs Cryptopsy joining the other 1000 something bands ripping them off.
My rating 2/5
No comments:
Post a Comment