Cryptopsy – An Insatiable Violence Review

By Alekhines Gun

We all know the score for Cryptopsy by now. It’s been thirteen long years since their apology letter/fan service/throne rebuilding mission statement attempted to right the wrongs in the brutal death stalwart’s camp. But the wounds were too deep, the fanbase’s rage too visceral, and in the end, an otherwise excellent album passed by without much of the fanfare it deserved. In subsequent years, two slabs of incredible EP’s and one monster full-length have worked to regain the graces of death aficionados the world over. Constant touring and setting a personal record for being the first metal band to play in Saudi Arabia saw them putting in the work while fine-tuning the formula that brought them to the dance. Now, a meager two years after As Gomorrah Burns, the Canadians have not returned with The Book of Suffering III (unfortunately) but a new full-length in An Insatiable Violence. Is enough enough? Can we leave the checkered past behind us and welcome the return of the kings?

It’s my intellectually rooted, emotionally detached, and purely scientific opinion that we absolutely can. An Insatiable Violence is a masturbatory self-tribute of carnage on the grandest scale, touching on all the songwriting cornerstones that founded the classic Cryptopsy lore while still attempting to push the band’s compositions to new heights and their performances to ever more lethal levels. Every ingredient you can name in tech and brutal death, from waltz-rooted chuggathons (“Until There’s Nothing Left”), to staccato peppered twanging and forest-fire tempo’d savagery (“Fools Last Acclaim”), are worked with head chef precision into a concise, yet dense and detailed listen. Bassist Oliver Pinard’s fingerprints are all across the album with multiple solos and highlights (“The Art of Emptiness” “Our Great Deception”), adding color and texture to the fastest of riffs and depth of tone to the slower moments, ensuring an album that does its best to live up to its name in the bands overall trajectory.

The secret ingredient to Cryptopsy’s classics is catchy simplicity disguised through techy virtuosity1. This focus is found throughout An Insatiable Violence, where accessible hooks and immediate earworms are run through a filter of proficiency and skill. “The Nimis Adoration” features one of the single most melodic solos in the band’s history, while “Malicious Needs” is constructed on the bones of a stuttering groove which would slot itself neatly into the band’s OG era. Indeed, the band said they wrote the album while touring in support of As Gomorrah Burns, which imparts a flavor that’s meant to be performed and consumed in a live setting, and every cut across the bloody board features a highlight to liquify vertebrae and flay nerve endings.

Individual performances in the Cryptopsy camp remain unsurprisingly top shelf. Flo Mounier continues to expand his drumming skillset in defiance of bands half his age, while Matt McGachy maintains his growth as a vocalist. An Insatiable Violence features some of his best work, with his vocals hitting pitches both high and low yet to be heard in his tenure with the band, while growing in enunciation and barbarism. Throughout the album, the band writes a tribute to each of their eras, from grooves that sound pulled right from The Book of Suffering to acoustic strums from the avant-garde middle period, to the vintage, PTSD-inducing savagery of yore. Even the lyrics2 attempt to return to the storytelling literature vibe of olden days, and while it’s true nothing will quite hit the vibe of “Pardon, please”, the mood is permeated throughout the release.

An unusually early promo from Season of Mist has allowed me to spend almost two full months with An Insatiable Violence, and each of the near fifty listens I’ve had offer up some new detail, compositional nuance, or performative bit which stands out and demands my attention. For the last decade plus, Cryptopsy have enhanced their skillset, honed their compositions, and fine-tuned their performances into the giants they used to be. It is time to leave the past in the past, to cease using The Unspoken King as a benchmark of career banality, and to recognize that the throne has indeed been rebuilt. An Insatiable Violence is engaging, bloodthirsty, frantic, and most importantly, an excellent release from a granddaddy band who are here to remind any that there truly is none so vile.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Season of Mist
Websites: Album Bandcamp | Band Facebook
Releases Worldwide: June 20th, 2025

#2025 #40 #AnInsatiableViolence #BrutalDeath #CanadianMetal #Cryptopsy #Jun25 #Review #Reviews #SeasonOfMist #TechDeath

Gaahls WYRD – Braiding the Stories Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier

Gaahl sure gets a lot of hate from his days with Gorgoroth. I can understand some of it, considering the dumb decisions he’s made, including trying to take my beloved Gorgoroth away from Infernus. While it’s damn-near impossible to find any Gorgy albums where he contributed on music streaming services, Gaahl has always been quite varied in his approach. For example, listen to songs like “Destroyer” and “Unchain My Heart!!!” Bananas, my friends. But you can’t limit Gaahl to only Gorgoroth because he’s been the frontman for the exceptional Trelldom far longer. After Gorgoroth, he’s become a busybody, continuing to contribute to Trelldom while branching out to a variety of other outfits, like God Seed, Gaahlskagg, and Gaahls WYRD. After receiving a mediocre score for their debut record, GastiR – Ghosts Invited, I’ve decided to give Braiding the Stories a try in hopes of convincing the Grymmcat and many of you that Gaahls WYRD isn’t that bad.

For those unaccustomed to this iteration of Gaahl, Gaahls WYRD is far removed from the black metal directions of Gorgoroth and Trelldom. While there are moments of classic, second-wave assaults, Gaahls WYRD employs folky avant-garde atmospheres to envelop the listener in an immersive album experience. Though it can be hard to tell on GastiR – Ghosts Invited. Thankfully, Braiding the Stories pushes the envelope even further than the debut album. You’ll also hear a range of vocal styles, including clean, whispering, and spoken-word approaches. You can hate the band as much as you want based on that description, but I give props to the man for expanding his repertoire. But GastiR – Ghosts Invited left much to be desired.

Glancing at the track runtimes, Braiding the Stories already looks like an interesting album. Spread throughout are various interlude tracks that range from gorgeous to unsettling. Unlike other albums, some of these little ditties play a major role in breaking up the record and setting up its strongest songs. After “The Dream” soothes us with reverberating guitars and soft, clean vocals, the nearly nine-minute-long title track swaddles us in atmoblack bliss. This track alone is superior to anything you’ll find on GastiR – Ghosts Invited, showcasing some enrapturing guitar leads and varying vocal deliveries. Never does it build to a eruptive climax; instead using its time to suck you in. The other fantastic setup comes in the form of the short “Voices in My Head” and the crushing “Time and Timeless Timeline.” After some sad dissonance and anxiety-inducing piano play from the former, “Time and Timeless Timeline” is a punch to the top of your head. The Gorgoroth-esque riff initiates intense neck movement as this song swings through distant clean vocals, a touch of falsettos, and various transitions that erupt into a killer conclusion.

Other notable pieces are the back-to-back “Root the Will” and “Flowing Starlight.” Though, as a pair, they are drastically different and serve the album’s weirdness. “Root the Will” charges on with a thrashy, heavy-metal lick that cruises like a MFer. In minutes, the vocals traverse strange territories from gnarly Gaahl screams to varying, overlapping clean vocals. When it transitions to a mid-paced tromp, the vocals give off some old-school Aldrahn vibes that hook me like a trout. The song refuses to settle at any point as it continues to evolve into dissonant sustains, a blackened atmosphere, and sad, unsettling vocals. The closing “Flowing Starlight” shocks and bewilders with some interesting ’70s guitar effects and attitude that I did not see coming. Add some big bass presence and this fucking thing grooves. Though it morphs throughout its seven-minute runtime, the mood is never lost, which makes this odd duck a standout on the album. As it progresses, Gaahl’s voice begins to give off Type O Negative vibes, as the gorgeous guitars lead us to the song’s powerful conclusion.

While I am no way the Gaahl hater that so many are, I didn’t expect to walk into Braiding the Stories and enjoy it. Of all the tracks, “Visions and Time” might be the only one that recalls the mediocre passages of GastiR – Ghosts Invited, along with its setup piece. The rest appear to be what the band was hoping to achieve with this project. One of the biggest issues Grymm had with the debut album was the lack of bass. This issue has been corrected on Braiding the Stories, bringing it far more forward and pushing Gaahl’s voice farther to the back. This mixing job is much more appealing to the ears, and the dynamics make it nice for repeat listens. I’m not sure where the band plans to go next, but Braiding the Stories is a positive step in the right direction.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Season of Mist
Websites: gaahlswyrd.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/gaahlswyrd
Releases Worldwide: June 6th, 2025

#2025 #35 #AvantGarde #BlackMetal #BraidingTheStories #GaahlsWYRD #Gaahlskagg #GodSeed #Gorgoroth #Jun25 #NorweiganMetal #Review #Reviews #SeasonOfMist #Trelldom #TypeONegative

…and Oceans – The Regeneration Itinerary

By Owlswald

My history with Finland’s …and Oceans runs as deep as the Mariana Trench. As a burgeoning metalhead, the eclectic symphonic black metal of 1998’s The Dynamic Gallery of Thoughts immediately sank its hooks into me. Its successor, The Symmetry of I – The Circle of O, solidified their place with its atmospherically intense and innovative brutality. The two albums remain all-time favorites of mine to this day. Conversely, the group’s industrial era of A.M.G.O.D. (2001) and Cypher (2002)—preceding the group’s hiatus—split my interest until 2020’s Cosmic World Mother and the subsequent As in Gardens, So in Tombs marked …and Oceans’ triumphant return to form. So, upon learning that …and Oceans’ seventh full-length, The Regeneration Itinerary, aimed to fuse the Finnish collective’s thirty-year history with their most experimental material since their resurgence, I eagerly dove in, hoping …and Oceans’ stylistic evolution would culminate with an album rivaling their early years.

The Regeneration Itinerary finds …and Oceans venturing into bolder and more daring territory while remaining anchored in the Emperor-esque incisiveness of Cosmic and As in Gardens. Echoing the sweeping grandeur of their earlier works, …and Oceans quickly re-establishes their familiar blend of flamboyance and experimentalism. Launching with a celestial shimmer, opener “Inertiae” detonates into a furious Dimmu Borgir-like energy before unexpectedly morphing into an industrial atmospheric bridge with electronic dance elements. This same confidence fuels potential Song o’ the Year contender “Prophetical Mercury Implement”—recalling Symmetry of I through swirling guitars, powerful drums, and dramatic synths—as well as the machine-like “Chromium Lungs, Bronze Optics.” For forty-six minutes, …and Oceans’ signature combination of symphonic grandiosity, industrial texturing, and black metal aggression ebbs and flows like a rising and retreating tide, firmly leaning into their outlandish spirit.

Demonstrating a degree of evolution in their craft, the performances on The Regeneration Itinerary are exceptional across the board. As Antti Simonen’s orchestrations navigate the majestic backdrop where Dynamic Gallery’s operatic symphonies (“Terminal Filter,” “The Form and the Formless”), Symmetry of I’s serene synths (“Towards the Absence of Light”) and the stark, mechanical pulse of A.M.G.O.D. and Cypher-era automations (“I am Coin, I am Two”) unite, they trade command with Tio Kontio and Teemu Saari’s blistering tremolos and razor-sharp guitars to produce …and Oceans’ grand melodicism. Lillmåns’ vocals are a highlight, shapeshifting from blood-curdling screams to manic shrieks to subterranean growls in tracks like “Prophetical Mercury Implement,” “The Form and the Formless,” and “Förnyelse i tre akter,” wholly embracing the raw and unhinged persona of former vocalist Kena Strömsholm. Beneath these shifting tides, Kauko Kuusisalo’s technical and colorful drumming pulls like an intense undertow, showcasing its evolution by moving beyond characteristic rapid-fire blasts and violent double bass in favor of artful rhythms and precise patterns. Furthermore, …and Oceans’ best production to date cleanly articulates The Regeneration Itinerary’s crushing brutality and subtle nuances, particularly for Simonen’s synths and Kontio and Saari’s guitars.

While the performances on The Regeneration Itinerary are stellar, certain songs across the album’s ten tracks don’t quite measure up to the record’s stronger compositions.1 Despite the strength of the core songwriting, the quirky industrial track “The Ways of Sulphur” seems forced and out of place, while “I am Coin, I am Two” feels underdeveloped and rushed, its abrupt end hindering its otherwise strong first half. Likewise, “The Form and the Formless” and “The Fire in Which We Burn” seem too brief. Thankfully, the strong performances carry the album forward but in a more hardened form, The Regeneration Itinerary would have crushed the Score Safety Counter into mere rubble.

Rating The Regeneration Itinerary demands that I separate my head from my heart. Nevertheless, my overall reaction is one of excitement. In many ways, this album embodies the …and Oceans of old and is what I’ve longed for since their 2017 reformation. With The Regeneration Itinerary, …and Oceans comes full circle, integrating their past into material that should ignite a sense of homecoming for longtime fans. Known for their constant evolution, The Regeneration Itinerary feels like the arrival of a new tide for …and Oceans. One that I’ll be impatiently waiting for again.

Rating: Very Good!
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Season of Mist
Websites: andoceans.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/andoceans
Releases Worldwide: May 23, 2025

#AndOceans #2025 #35 #BlackMetal #DimmuBorgir #Emperor #FinnishMetal #May25 #MelodicBlackMetal #Review #Reviews #SeasonOfMist #SymphonicBlackMetal #TheRegenerationItinerary

Changeling – Changeling Review

By Dolphin Whisperer

Creation, evaluation, iteration—art lives and transforms an untold number of times before its flesh lays bare for a dissecting audience. Thus, the album runs on a path of turns sharp, around, back again—whatever it takes—before the artist declares it enough. Tom Geldschläger has worn many musical lives, both under his given moniker and “Fountainhead” with acclaimed acts like Obscura and Ingurgitating Oblivion, and as a performer/engineer. And now, with Changeling, Geldschläger seeks to express a culmination of his works, partnerships, and curiosities in a grand exploration of his unique fretless guitar stylings amongst progressive, orchestral, and deathly conjurings. In the credits alone—over thirty performers with credits ranging from Wagner tuba to marimba to an Andy LaRocque (King Diamond, ex-Illwill) wailing solo—Changeling shows its mutable form forged of virtuosity, novelty, and adventure.

Looking to the past to create a history-laced work with a fresh trajectory holds a foundational pillar throughout Changeling. Consumers of Geldschläger’s past—whether they’ve realized he was part of it or otherwise1—will notice signature shred motifs and Cynic-imbued urgencies that pass through shades of Akróasis (“Instant Results,” “Falling in Circles”),2 with the epic conclusion of “Anathema” holding as a spiritual successor to “Weltseele.” Geldschläger has also accumulated a talented Rolodex along the way, with minor identities like Matthias Preisinger’s (Shape of Dreams) piano and strings and Jan Ferdinand’s (Ingurgitating Oblivion) vibraphonic emissions holding necessary weight against primary contributors like the chameleonic Morean (Alkaloid) on word and voice and virtuoso Arran McSporran (Vipassi, ex-De Profundis) on dancing bass. In the spirit of true collaboration, the resulting Changeling wears progressive music, and its own associated acts, in a vision that screams and scurries and soars into the fade of a thunderous drum strike.

A unifying voice of fretboard bombast holds tight the flow that whips Changeling through its fiery, deathly roots and its experimental crawl and swell. Though progressive and technical death metal begin to define early numbers, Changeling holds loose to genre conventions and pairs playful string ensembles (“Falling in Circles”), rhythm-warping oud tuplets (“World? What World?”), and tabla-guided choirs (“Changeling”). Of course, dissonance in excess and avant-garde-isms can often pose heavy barriers to long-term enjoyment. And though Changeling dabbles plenty in both the ghastly awe of Morean’s off-kilter and emotional vocal charisma (“Abyss” and “Abdication” hosting the greatest highlights), and alien tonal explorations (“Cathexis Interlude”), the weight of diverse riffage and stupefying power of Geldschläger’s fretless anomolies anchor Changeling in masterful songcraft—every song idea cradled and decorated with mischievous flair.

In sequence, Changeling swells from short-form shredscapades (“Instant Results,” “Falling in Circles”) to novella-length celebrations (“Anathema”)—layers of progression towards a whole. Following its escalating narrative, Changeling’s themes follow the spasm of psychedelic expansion (“Instant Results”) to dissociated questioning (“World? What World?”) to ego breakdown (“Abyss”) to awakening and rebirth (“Abdication,” “Anathema”). And despite this overarching cohesion, each successive track introduces a new element, whether it be as simple as the Germanic drama of deep brass (“World? What World?”), as darting as the chase of wobbly percussion (“Changeling”), or as escaping as the Yes-via-Princess Mononoke of dreamlike orchestration (“Abdication”). With every piece finding a return and final hurrah in the throes of “Anathema,” Changeling’s lengthy run feels justified so long as you can give it proper time and space.

And even if you can’t carve an hour to explore Changeling’s enriched and engorged elaborations, the questions that Changeling raises with this fresh take on progressive death metal dig plenty deep, even at the song level. Just how many times does that main ostinato in “World? What World?” jump instruments? Where does one rapid-fire guitar arpeggio end and velvety bass recursion begin in “Instant Results”? Is that slippery lead intro to “Falling in Circles” a bend, a dive, a slide, or some unholy combo of all three? Does any solo compete with the triumphant stutter-to-squeal finale of “Anathema”? Sometimes the answers include a revelation that yes, in its Devin Townsend-y “wall of sound,” Changeling requires some loudness adjustments. And, yes, that snare packs a POW more aggressive than any other sound on the whole album. But after countless dives into its meticulous and eccentric world, it’s apparent that Changeling wears any flaws it may have with an empowering and intoxicating flamboyance.

Rating: 4.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Season of Mist | Bandcamp
Websites: thefountainhead.de | changelingofficial.bandcamp.com | instagram.com/changeling.official
Releases Worldwide: April 25th, 2025

#2025 #45 #Alkaloid #Apr25 #Changeling #Cynic #DeProfundis #DevinTownsend #GermanMetal #IngurgitatingOblivion #Obscura #ProgressiveDeathMetal #ProgressiveMetal #Review #Reviews #SeasonOfMist #ShapeOfDreams #SymphonicDeathMetal #TechnicalDeathMetal #Vipassi #Yes