Review by Jeger on April 26, 2025.

When it comes to the paradox between being underrated vs. being deeply appreciated at the same time, Canada's Cryptopsy most certainly rest somewhere in the center of this paradigm as one of DM's most underrated yet highly influential collectives. Shat from death's womb; dripping blood, sweat and soaked to the core with blasphemy's pungent nectar in 1992, this gaggle of brutes have been champions of the second wave of Death Metal, and their silent reign has been a substantial one: eight bestial LP's that span o'er the thematic chasms of blasphemy and the macabre. Most DM bands stick to either one or the other of these two concepts, but that's just not fucking brutal enough for Cryptopsy. For these boys, the creation of DM has got to be a matter of both defilement and of violence. And of course, unparalleled musical talent and sheer lyrical savagery.

Drummer, Flo Mounier, is the band's only original member, and his remarkable contributions over the decades have earned him a place among the very best percussionists that the genre has to offer. And when joined by his fellow Gorehog band mates, the finished product has always been at the apex of ferocity: beyond aggressive, superseding hatred and transcending the genre status quo. In 2023, Cryptopsy released As Gomorrah Burns - an adventurous conceptual imagining, but bolstered by the instrumental and vocal brutality we've all come to expect from their output. Now, as the gears of our dying world grind away at any hopes for a better tomorrow, we stand upon the verge of extinction-level obliteration, for on June, 25 of this cursed year, Cryptopsy will unleash An Insatiable Violence via Season of Mist. Prepare to endure the mechanisms of suffering…

We all sabotage our lives. It's as though we all love to suffer; to live for it as a murderer lives for the thrill of the hunt. But this is an unconscious manifestation. Pain is inevitable but suffering is optional! Yet here you are, wallowing in a torturous reality of your own creation. Like strapping yourself to a machine each day; one that administers the agony of a century's worth of torment, only to tweak it each night to be even more precise and malevolent in its functionality. Herein lies the thematic construct of the new LP, and the music is merciless, but also accessible, as the band has utilized a more fundamental approach to rhythm and melody: marshal rhythms, pummeling breakdowns and some underlying melodic arrangements that lure you into the experience like Dahmer did his victims…

The opening track, "The Nimis Adoration" - no time to waste - cerebral obliteration of the rhythmic consort: merciless percussive onslaughts, abysmal grinds and baleful breakdowns as the catalysts to this, the swan song of sanity. The willful revolution of suffering's unrelenting tiller to pass the time. And the cut, "Until Nothing's Left", continues the course until a memorable and dare-I-say catchy chorus begins to apply its seductive death grip upon your tender gullet. Rooted in tradition and yet contemporary all the same is An Insatiable Violence, as it offers up all of the classic goods, all the while as modern recording techniques bring it all to life like the resurrection of some abominable beast that's been interfused with cyborg-like components. A fucking banger! Prepare for sprained necks and crushed testicles… A modestly crafted volume at only just under 34:00 minutes of runtime, but still exhausting in the best way. An Insatiable Violence culminates with "Malicious Needs"; not some pretentious epic, but more of the same punishment you've endured throughout the entirety of this album. A little slow-burning, Asphyx-like doom-worship upon the final couple of minutes.

Damn, run this shit back! This record just begs for repeated listens, and Cryptopsy has proven once again to be one of Death Metal's most vital bands. While modern day DM outfits spin their superficial, uber-technical wheels, these boys just bring it as it was always meant to be brought: with unrelenting brutality and no bullshit songwriting methods. FFO Dying Fetus, Suffocation and total devastation…

9 out of 10