Developed from a distance within periods of great stagnation over the course of nearly a decade of trial-and-error the eighth and latest full-length album from brutal technical death metal/deathcore quartet Cryptopsy speaks in an impeccably practiced cadence with a well prepared then-and-now enriched statement, the work of imposing consummate professionals. ‘As Gomorrah Burns‘ thematically bridges too-ancient moralistic Biblical fanatic parables of the craven ungodly masses and the terminally online cesspit of humanity as one and the same, a virtual metropolis-en-cabal. The internet is guilty, darkness descends? In some sense, yes, each parable considers the avatar and the good and evil that modern men do when given unlimited access to next-level deranged psyche and increasingly malleable environs.

Though they’d formally enacted the long-running Cryptopsy name circa 1992 the origins of the band trace back to 1988 where various formations under different names (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Gomorra) eventually gave way to the far more productive thrashing, garage-level death metal ideation of Necrosis who’d produced a number of demos circa 1990, a brilliantly fucked-up Ripping Corpse-esque debut LP (‘Realms of Pathogenia‘, 1991) and soon after a demo circa 1992 which essentially represented the original precursor to Cryptopsy as the first to feature drummer Flo Mounier and key guitarist Steve Thibault. Ask any annoying tech-death snot about the formative years of the band and they’ll peck at it like a scabby taint, a “not quite there” sentiment, but anyone interested in ‘old school’ death/thrash metal will appreciated the technical ambition and raw/bestial edged movement found on all precursors to ‘Ungentle Exhumation‘ (1993), incredible provenance as to where and where this band came from and how they built their legacy in the mid-to-late 90’s. We can move on from those early days fairly quickly as the real signature of the band wouldn’t become truly obvious to the record store junky until their debut LP (‘Blasphemy Made Flesh‘, 1994) would release and help to more clearly define the concept and standard for brutal death metal.

My basic rule for appreciating Cryptopsy‘s storied discography has only one contentious point, only the albums which feature guitarist Jon Levasseur (1993-2004) were truly influential and marked a new standard for their time, the rest aimed for a broader, younger audience. Springing tech-thrash basslines, psychotic theatrics from ungodly vocalist Lord Worm and signature techniques & compositional weight from Mounier created a sound that could hang with the best of the dominant United States death metal scenery at the time (the late 90’s), particularly the tightly knit brutal death of the northern east coast. I have long been an obsessive fan of their debut, even if ‘None So Vile‘ (1996) is the band’s major legacy contribution to the realm, and have to admit the addition of Éric Langlois on bass and Lord Worm‘s peaking genius truly made these folks one of the biggest personalities in death metal at the time. They caught fire at the right time but it’d have to be the sort of music one could only obsess over for so long before accepting that there just wouldn’t be anything like it again anytime soon.

Lightning struck twice as the band began their long run of records for Century Media, well, at least for one album with new vocalist Mike DiSalvo featuring one of my favorite performances in that style for ‘Whisper Supremacy‘ (1998). To this day it is one of the overall most representative works in terms of the variety of their discography even if it isn’t as highly praised as the Worm-fronted records and their next few would explore tech-death and metalcore/hardcore inspired rhythms. Anyhow, you will find me acting a fanatic at the mention of 90’s Cryptopsy in every case but the 2000’s records which featured second chair guitarist Alex Auburn (1999-2009) missed me entirely beyond certain parts of the challenging ‘one foot in the past, one foot in the future’ feeling of ‘Once Was Not‘ (2005). If you’re not familiar with the band you’d do well to familiarize yourself with the ’93-’05 greatness of the band even if there are some hit-or-miss moments in the overall bag, that is the legacy behind their work since. As a longtime fan that is typically where the eulogy ends and a lot of less interesting choices were made as deathcore influences arrived alongside many line-up changes which settled around 2011 or so. To complete the general illustration of my point of view as a fan here, I’d kept up with and appreciated the band over the years but only selectively felt certain releases “fit” the name and legacy of their work and name.

The fact that I can prattle on for three loaded-ass paragraphs (more to come) and still have not touched upon half of Cryptopsy‘s major releases isn’t meant so much as a testament to their long life but moreso my own stubborn fandom as a hold-out from their transitional modernization, even if I’d recognize those stylistic/line-up changes were a necessary thing for a group hoping to generate fresh innovation in the tech-death field and keep hitting big tours; No doubt the band generally understand this about the legions of folks who’ll only ever want that classic 90’s sound from the group and the smart thing they’ve done since their 2012 self-titled independent release was to focus on their signature rhythms, the grooves, blasts, and whatnot wherein they’d innovated enough to make a name. The result is the carefully tooled together perfectionist touch of ‘As Gomorrah Burns‘ a surprisingly nonchalant half hour+ of ~3-4 minute brutal death/core pieces, a cold but still kinda nutso-smasho reminder of the basal genius of their work in a succinct and blistering enough return. For all of the overthinking they’d seem to have done on this release beyond at least 2018 the result is easily approached, brisk and unchallenging in its barbaric overtones which veil a deep-set machine mind.

While the combo of vocalist Matt McGachy and producer/engineer Christian Donaldson are unlikely suspects for recreating that auld Cryptopsy feeling from my point of view we have to consider they’ve been a huge part of the band’s newer sound per their higher aptitudes for deathcore sensibilities. We should note that ‘The Unspoken King‘ (2008) got a collective “Nah.” from long-time fans but wasn’t a flop overall and ‘Cryptopsy‘ (2012) was all but universally accepted as a course correction. No doubt the mission on this album is make a distinctly signature record for this long-standing group which’d still make sense for hangers-on. Opener “Lascivious Undivine”, “Flayed the Swine”, and “The Righteous Lost” do well enough to focus on intensity of pace, Mounier‘s signature work, and riffs that we get more than the glimpse of how well-oiled their functional relationships are in terms of this vision as a product for mass audiences.

Though I wouldn’t concede that they’ve completely managed said result, the production values are a bit flat and somewhat generic in their compressed tech-death space, but we do find a release that makes reasonable sense in terms of considering the full spectrum of releases from the band to date. Machine-tightened grooves which give parity to the chug of the rhythm guitars and the drums are the main focus, classic brutal death tension with the occasionally tuneful crawl of deathcore as it butts up against less era specific riffcraft. The aforementioned “Flayed the Swine” is the right piece to introduce the uncertain listener to as it speaks to the expanding personae of McGachy whose oeuvre continues to echo the madness of past Cryptopsy vocalists in his own personalized way, the range of expression he manages is probably one of the most impressive aspects of this record which tends towards overwrought collision-based brutality prone to struggle through its hottest bursts of speed while tossing in the odd fiddly lead (see: “Godless Deceiver”.)

After sitting with the band’s discography, revisiting more recent works and spending a solid twenty-five or so spins through this relatively short new album I’d suggest ‘As Gomorrah Burns‘ offers a palatable medium between past lives and current futurism which naturally reads as cold and crushing brutal tech-death rather than plainly trendy -core muzack. The catch is that the line between plainly bumping grooves and riffcraft, the binary cut groove which opens “The Righteous Lost” being a prime example of the former, is far too typically groovin’ as most of the rhythm guitar interest on the album is less than thrilling beyond a few odd-timed feats. A few key exceptions crop up here and there, as suggested by the DiSalvo-era feeling of lead single “In Abeyance” where we find the band most on fire up front (and the final flare-up of “Praise the Filth” at the end, too) but overall I’d found the full listen lacking the ingenuity and innovation one’d typically expect from Cryptopsy. Certainly not a bad record to have sat with for some amount of time but also not likely a long-term revisit for my own taste. A moderately high recommendation.

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