Cryptopsy - None So Vile (1996)^{Release ID: 558}

Cryptopsy ripped death metal a new hole with this immensely vicious album that defines the word "brutal".

I'd been thoroughly impressed by Cryptopsy's debut album Blasphemy Made Flesh. Unfortunately, the rather shitty production made listening to it more than just a bit demanding. But it was clear to anyone that experienced these Canadian’s first outing that they had the skills to create something wonderfully horrendous. Two years later and that promise would be delivered on in fine style! There was one line-up change between the releases, with bassist Martin Fergusson making way for Eric Langlois (formerly of Aggression). Fortunately, this means the extraordinary talents of Flo Mounier, Jon Levasseur and Lord Worm are all still present, and this time they have a far more suitable production to display their wares. But before discussing the controlled insanity that these individuals unleashed upon the Earth with None So Vile, I simply must mention “that” album cover. This morbid piece of work was painted by Elisabetta Sirani, a young and talented Italian artist of the 1600s. The rather calm looking woman in the painting is the Jewish princess Herodias and the head on the plate once belonged to John the Baptist. It’s certainly a disturbing piece of work and an eye-catching way for Cryptopsy to warn anyone of the blasphemous brutality contained within this album.

There have been many bands out there that have attempted to create the most brutal, ferocious death metal album in existence, but it must be said that often this ambition results in a messy cacophony of disjointed ideas. Suffocation undoubtedly took things to a whole new level with albums such as Effigy of the Forgotten and Pierced From Within, but Cryptopsy would not be satisfied with merely cloning previous efforts. Everything this band does here is done with extraordinary velocity, yet the technicality is first rate and the result surprisingly memorable. Jon Levasseur is the sole guitarist on None So Vile and I have immense respect for what he achieved here. Fantastic, chunky death metal riffs abound complete with bizarre timings and numerous techniques, but it’s the inhuman tremolo picked riffs that really impress and stay with me after this 32-minute album has run its course. Speaking of inhuman, Flo Mounier performance here is simply out of this world. It may on first listen seem that he’s endlessly blasting away, but further listens reveal stacks of creative fills and constant change-ups that make this one of the most important releases for any aspiring death metal drummer out there to check out.

But where would any early Cryptopsy review be without mentioning Lord Worm. His frenzied vocals contain indecipherable guttural death growls, an indecipherable throat ripping mid-range holler and indecipherable vicious screams. If you’re one of those softies out there that can’t enjoy anything where you can’t understand the vocalist, then you’d be well advised to do what the album closing Army of Darkness quote suggests and run home and cry to momma. You’re just as unlikely to be singing along to these tracks as you are to be selecting them on karaoke night. The fact that Lord Worm doesn’t even bother following the lyrics sheet suggest the band don’t exactly place much importance on getting any sort of message out there. It’s about atmosphere in the end and I’m a firm believer that None So Vile would not be the album it is without Mr Worm’s rabid feats of violence. None So Vile is simply put, a landmark death metal album that deserves its place amongst the elite. Tracks such as Slit Your Guts, Benedictine Convulsions and the infamously jaw dropping Phobophile display a more than capable bunch of freaks at the top of their game. Just make sure you know what you’re in for before you press play.

Pummeling, unrelenting force, brutal and chaotic to the untrained ear, but held together by immense technical prowess. The album that both Brutal Death and Tech Death are now compared against, Cryptopsy set the bar unreachably high with only their second album. None So Vile is a nonstop riff fest that absolutely assaults the listener with dense, twisted guitarwork and some of the wildest drumming I’ve yet heard.

Cryptopsy didn’t exactly name the game here – taking big influence from bands like Death, Suffcation, and a bit of Nespithe perhaps – but they just did it so well. Brutal Death Metal is among my less-liked Death Metal subgenres because of its tendency to forgo focusing on crafting good riffs to instead create a wall of punishment in auditory form. Similarly, Tech Death, while often very good, can lose points in songwriting when getting too stuck on showing off the musician’s technical prowess. Well, this music is certainly every bit as punishing and impressive, but not for one second did the band forget how write an awesome riff. Every song is jam packed with some of the best, and backed by aggressive drumming that never falls into “constant blast beat” boredom. Its loaded with creative fills and different drumming patterns, even slowing down every so often for some added weight. Wonderfully crafted music!

There is a huge issue for me, and that’s the vocals. They don’t sound terrible, but even when reading along to the lyrics, they are indecipherable, they don’t even attempt to speak or follow along. It’s pathetic, embarrassing really. The vocalist just got in the booth and growled without trying? It’s polar opposite to the incredible hard work and dedication shown by every musician on the record. You would think when all you are contributing to an album filled with such incredible songwriting and musicianship is growled vocals, you would make absolutely sure that you nailed that performance and crafted some lyrical quality to boot. The lyrics unfortunately are just okay usually, sometimes similarly bad. These points ensure the album will never be a masterpiece to me.

    This is the pinnacle of brutal death metal. It's about as good as it gets. Suffocation may have found the sound, but this is without a doubt one of the best metal records of all time. Songwriting is ridiculous. Almost as if you were to hear what he is screaming, surprisingly better than most of Brutal Death Metal lyrics. Lord Worm is/was an English teacher anyway, so well-written lyrics all over this album.

    The Exorcist III sample might be one of the Death Metal most iconic samples. Then None So Vile starts, brutally, relentlessly, unreasonably fast and disgusting. Lord Worm's vocals are my favorite in Metal, but even if you don't like them, you gotta acknowledge how good they are. Drums are stupidly out of this world. Riffs are so good you forget this record would push you to the ground and eat your flesh.  Just check out Phobophile, all this is present there, with a great/iconic piano intro.

    None So Vile marks a spot so high on BDM mountain, I doubt any band ever will climb that high. My favorite tracks: Crown Of Thorns, Phobophile, Slit Your Gut, Benedictine Convulsions.

In the film Twister, the storm chasing crew speak in hushed tones about the "finger of God".  This referred to an F5 category tornado, a terrifying and dangerous thing that by Bill Paxton's character's own admission "few have stared one in the face and survived."  You can apply a similar reference to Cryptopsy's sophomore release from 1996, such is the ferocity of the maelstrom that presents itself across these eight tracks of brutal and unsympathetic death metal.

At the end of the record, a snippet invites us to run home and cry to our momma's, or words to that effect.  For me the correct reaction would be to run home to your whole family and tell them what a fucking force of nature Cryptopsy are and how you stared None So Vile in the face and survived.

A couple of points of note for anyone unfortunate enough to never have experienced this record.  Firstly, this is the kind of record that gets talked about in the same hushed tones as would Scream Bloody Gore, Blessed Are The Sick, Pierced From Within and Cause of Death.  Here be death metal nobility, all kneel before your master.  Secondly, drummer Flo Mounier does only have two arms.  It may sound like they have an octopus or that he is a Siamese twin, but there is only one of him and he is but a man.  Quite how one man can create such a furious and flawless performance defies the laws of science, but alas the evidence is there for all to see.

Equally accountable for the swirling hostility of the record is vocalist Lord Worm who howls and gasps manically on track after track literally spewing hatred forth for thirty two minutes.  Let's not forget the sonic wizardry of Jon Levasseur who as well delivering scorching leads also maintains frenetic riffing accompanied by the clunking bass of Eric Langlois.

So there you are, if you are about to listen to this record for the first time, strap yourself to something solid first.