Cryptopsy: The Book of Suffering - Tome I and II (2018)

Similar to Morbid Angel, Cryptopsy is a death metal band whose material without their original lead singer, I have been reluctant to investigate thoroughly.  Lord Worm's vocals were such a major part of what made the albums Blasphemy Made Flesh and None So Vile so appealing.  It was not the only thing, just an important part of it.  So coming into this year, I had never heard anything by Cryptopsy with either Mike DiSalvo or Matt McGachy.

McGachy, in particular, was a singer whose work with the band I was reluctant to listen to much at all due to the rather poor reception the band received for his first album with them, The Unpsoken King.  That album veered a little to closely to deathcore and I did hear a couple of the songs and was certainly not impressed by them.  But, I decided to give this compilation a chance to see if the band had redeemed themselves.  It appears they have.

This is a compilation of the two The Book of Suffering EPs, one from 2015 and the other from 2018.  Cryptopsy has not released a full-length album since 2012, which I was unaware of.  I had not heard anything from the band since the 2008 debacle The Unspoken King.  I cannot speak for their last full-length, but these EPs appear to be a return to the form that made Cryptopsy one of the most influential bands on the technical brutal death metal sound. 

The riffs themselves are fairly technical, but where the band really shines, as usual, is in the rhythm section between band stalwart drummer Flo Mounier and bassist Olivier Pinard, who has only been with the group since 2012.  Mounier is one of the best drummers in the genre and for very good reason.  Pinard has built up a reputation quickly and is also currently in Cattle Decapitation.  The vocals too are much more impressive.  McGachy is not as incomprehensible as Lord Worm was, but has come around to a nice deep guttural roar.  He does tend to get a little closer to a more deathcore-sounding style on occasion, but those moments are few and far between.  He has improved significantly. 

Checking this release out has convinced me to check out more of Cryptopsy's work with DiSalvo.  This is a nice return to form for the band and hopefully we will have a new full-length soon in line with this improvement.