Cryptopsy🇨🇦【20-Album Review】: 30 Years Carrying the Holy Scripture 'None So Vile'

My first encounter with Cryptopsy was, as usual, at the TSUTAYA in the next town over. On the shelves were 'None So Vile' and 'Whisper Supremacy,' neither of which were particularly well-known in Japan at the time. Perhaps I was drawn to the sharp-angled logo, said to be designed by Flo Mounier, and the decadent, highly artistic cover art of 'None So Vile' by Håkan Sjödin.

I still cannot forget the shock I felt the moment I pressed the play button. Even if the main riff was moving in a straight line, the progressive and unpredictable song structure allowed for complex riff changes and odd time signatures to occur all around it. Then, fluid guitar solos, Lord Worm's intense, unintelligible vocals, and Flo Mounier's high-speed blast beats—which rivaled even Origin—came crashing down. It was incredibly vivid.

However, listening to the live album 'None So Live,' the performance had a thrill of being on the verge of collapse, rather than the unshakable composure of bands like Morbid Angel or Cannibal Corpse.

Later, when I saw them at LOUD PARK around the time they released their self-titled album 'Cryptopsy,' they were surprisingly refined. The precision of their performance had improved significantly, yet the drumming of Flo Mounier that I experienced live was still superhuman. The youngest drummer, who had joined last during the demo era, had become the central figure leading the band before I knew it.

Of course, their journey has by no means been smooth sailing. Mounier's playing sometimes tends to be placed too much at the center of the production. Also, struggling with musical direction and marketing, they have shown a wide swing between pandering to trends and conservatism, from the deathcore route on 'The Unspoken King' to the subsequent rapid return to their roots.

Looking back, the history of Cryptopsy has also been a history of the band's struggle, having to face their own pinnacle for decades because they carved a holy scripture into the technical death metal genre. In this article, I would like to trace their nearly 35-year trajectory, one by one, from their demo recordings to their latest work.

🔰 5 Recommended Cryptopsy Songs

Slit Your Guts — “I promise you pain and nightmares, in that sequence.”
(I promise you. First, the pain. And then, the nightmares.)

Phobophile — “Monsters live behind my eyes; I let them out and people die.”
(Monsters live behind my eyes. If I let them out, people die.)

Defenestration — “Gravity is the only witness.” (Gravity is the only witness to that moment.)

Open Face Surgery — “Open Face Surgery: short of pain and long on masquerade.” (Open Face Surgery—the pain is fleeting, the masquerade is eternal.)

Cold Hate, Warm Blood — “December's child is dead and gone.”
(December's child is dead and gone.)

Necrosis

📼 Realms of Pathogenia (Recorded in 1991, Demo)

⭐ 2.0/5.0
📝 'Realms of Pathogenia'—the title alone might remind one of later Cryptopsy, but once you open the lid... it was a monotonous 43 minutes wandering between thrash metal and death metal. Lord Worm's vocals are overwhelmingly weak compared to his later years, and without Flo Mounier's percussive playing or Jon Levasseur's hook-laden riffs, it lacks any personality.

📼 Necrosis (Recorded in January 1992, Demo)

⭐ 2.5/5.0
📝 Although they fell into a state of dissolution at one point, Steve Thibault and Dave Galea decided to restart. The biggest change in this work is the drummer. The newcomer, Flo Mounier, had hardly played extreme metal at this point, but he adapted rapidly to the 'death metal-ization' of their musicality. His 'high-speed, hard-hitting drumming style' signaled the beginning of the Cryptopsy sound. The riff changes are fast, and the tempo shifts are intense.

Cryptopsy

📼 Ungentle Exhumation (Released July 15, 1993, Demo)

⭐️ 4.0/5.0
📝 They changed their name to Cryptopsy and Levasseur joined. They pushed the brutal death metal template shown by Suffocation on 'Effigy of the Forgotten' to even greater extremes, establishing a unique style that combined the speed of tremolo picking with irregular riff changes. The sound quality is unusually easy to listen to for a demo, and Mounier's non-triggered drumming shows his underlying power. Later, one of the four songs was re-recorded for the 1st album and another for the 4th, but I prefer this version for the latter.

💿 Blasphemy Made Flesh (Released November 25, 1994, 1st Album) 🌟🌟 Super Masterpiece

⭐️ 4.5/5.0
📝 The production of this work has a 'rawness' unusual for death metal at the time; the snare sounds as if the room's reverberation was recorded directly, and the bass is strangely more prominent than the guitars or vocals. The early-period-specific song structure, which is 'linear' yet constantly betrays expectations, is already a mass of inspiration, and Worm's lyrics are among the most literary in death metal history, filled with black humor. The 30-second shout in 'Open Face Surgery' is tremendous.

🎤 Live in Regina 1995 (Recorded June 17, 1995, Live Video)

⭐ 2.5/5.0
📝 Footage that saw the light of day as a 25th-anniversary DVD for 'Blasphemy Made Flesh.' Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Both image and sound quality are at bootleg level. Note that Lord, who performs ritualistically, is already awakening to the grotesque roar heard on 'None So Vile.' Levasseur's performance provides a nice contrast to the wild Martin Fergusson. Steve Thibault has a presence as a frontman in both MCing and vocals.

💿 None So Vile (Released July 3, 1996, 2nd Album) 🌟🌟🌟 Must-Listen 🔰 Introductory Edition

⭐ 4.5/5.0
📝 A masterpiece in death metal history that crystallized the 'pathological violence' presented in the previous work 'Blasphemy Made Flesh' into an even higher purity. Eric Langlois' slap bass added an unusually funky element to the songs for death metal. Furthermore, Levasseur recorded almost all the guitar parts by himself, and his wealth of riff work and responsiveness with Mounier are worthy of admiration. Lord's grotesque vocal style, which used lyrics as an 'instrument,' also reached its peak in this work.

💿 Whisper Supremacy (Released September 22, 1998, 3rd album)

⭐ 3.5/5.0
📝 The first major label release, welcoming Mike DiSalvo as Lord's successor and adding guitarist Miguel Roy. DiSalvo has a hardcore-leaning style completely different from Levasseur, but it fits the refined and aggressive sound. However, the mix puts the drums and vocals in the foreground, leaving the guitars feeling pushed back. The songs have become increasingly complex, the 'groove' and 'catchiness' of the previous work have decreased, and the individuality of the songs has faded. This is just barely on the line of being enjoyable to listen to.

💿 And Then You'll Beg (Released October 31, 2000, 4th album)

⭐ 3.0/5.0
📝 Aiming to 'surpass Whisper Supremacy technically' and trying to balance 'more progressive aspects' with 'speed' resulted in a record that is more 'mathy,' 'complex,' and off-putting to the listener than the previous one. The sharp production, fragmentation of riffs, and frequent use of odd time signatures stand out. On the other hand, experimental elements such as the swing riff in 'Shroud' and the introduction of the didgeridoo in 'Screams Go Unheard' are scattered throughout.

🎤 None So Live (Recorded June 1, 2002, live recording)

⭐ 3.5/5.0
📝 Recorded at the prestigious Montreal live house Le Medley during the 'And Then You'll Beg' tour, this work was the debut of Martin Lacroix, DiSalvo's successor. His address to the audience in French, as he was not fluent in English (the reason for his dismissal), does not fail to evoke a sense of 'local patriotism.' The structure of stopping in the middle of a song to go into a drum solo sounds like an interruption, and the faster tempo compared to the studio version gives the impression of pushing through 'roughness' with 'momentum'.

🎤 Trois-Rivières Metalfest IV (Recorded November 6, 2004, live video)

⭐ 3.0/5.0
📝 Le Maquisart in Trois-Rivières, Quebec. Shortly after Lord returned and Daniel Mongrain began touring as Levasseur's successor, this work was produced as a 'debut of the new system.' A classic setlist featuring the entire 'None So Vile' album plus more. Lord's vocal volume is uneven, and during any solo, the camera only shows the drums.The 'signature performance' of eating live earthworms and throwing them into the audience's mouths is not for the faint of heart!

💿 Once Was Not (Released October 18, 2005, 5th album)

⭐️ 3.5/5.0
📝 With the exception of the intro, Alex Auburn took charge of the composition for this work, and the musicality is in a more 'avant-garde' and 'experimental' direction. Elements never seen before, such as jazz fusion, bossa nova, Spanish guitar, strings, and acoustic, were incorporated. The weak guitar sound pressure and the dry production that puts the drums in the foreground are the bottlenecks. Even with the complex and dense amount of information, this is hard to listen to.

💿 The Unspoken King (Released May 26, 2008, 6th album)

⭐️ 1.0/5.0
📝 A problematic work in death metal history that flopped after dabbling in the 'trendy deathcore.' Clean vocals, keyboards, and breakdowns were boldly introduced. New member Matt McGachy is struggling between death metal and metalcore, and there is a sense of being 'out of place' as if American alternative rock had intruded. It is surprising that he remained after becoming sleepless from worrying too much. The keyboard work of Maggie Durand, who was soon dismissed, is questionable in its very existence. It is a dark history of the band that 'should not be talked about'.

💿 Cryptopsy (Released September 11, 2012, 7th album)

⭐️ 3.0/5.0
📝 A work that attempted to correct the course as the title suggests, bringing back Levasseur as a temporary project after he said he was 'hurt' by listening to the previous work. The band was happy that the 'album wrote itself,' but his inspiration, having left because he was 'bored with extreme music,' remained in a state of burnout. The songs leave little impression. The over-compressed production and the strangely increased 'signature' jazz breaks are not sharp either. It is certainly much healthier compared to the previous work.

🏆 The Best of Us Bleed (Released 2012, best-of album)

⭐️ 3.0/5.0
📝 A total of 32 songs and 138 minutes, starting from 'The Unspoken King' in reverse chronological order, and even including rehearsal recordings. Judging by the track order, it is for recent new fans or quite the connoisseur. Although the new songs are closer to death metal, the sound is still that of 'The Unspoken King,' so I cannot feel good about it. The rehearsal recordings have only archival value, and their coexistence is a bit forced.

💿 The Book of Suffering: Tome I (Released October 30, 2015, EP)

⭐️ 3.5/5.0
📝 This work was conceived as the first of the 'The Book of Suffering' trilogy, an idea by former vocalist Lord. They set a goal of $20,000 on crowdfunding, but since they reached about 50%, it was released on an independent label. His vocals have improved significantly, close to a hybrid of Lord and DiSalvo. It is a work that seems to reconsider the Cryptopsy tradition of being 'complex yet easy to listen to' more faithfully.

💿 The Book of Suffering: Tome II (Released October 26, 2018, EP)

⭐️ 3.0/5.0
📝 The second installment of 'The Book of Suffering'. After a 3-year wait, we get 4 songs in 18 minutes. While 'Tome I' was from the perspective of the 'inflictor of suffering,' this work is depicted from the perspective of the 'one who escaped suffering.' The music is not much different from 'Tome I,' and I wouldn't doubt it if it were called a collection of outtakes. Christian Donaldson has stopped being a 'Levasseur copycat' and is beginning to build his own style. The riff progression in 'The Wretched Living' is interesting. Otherwise, it lacks dynamics and hooks.

💿 As Gomorrah Burns (Released September 23, 2023, 8th album)

⭐️ 3.0/5.0
📝 A work produced for 'fans of all eras' after returning to the majors by signing with Nuclear Blast. There are no major changes to the musical style, but due to the pandemic, 'groove' and 'melody' are emphasized, resulting in an album that is 'a bit darker and more emotional' than ever before. As for whether the songs have more personality, it's on par with recent works. The sterile and dry production makes it sound like it has lost its vigor.

💿 An Insatiable Violence (Released June 20, 2025, 9th album)

⭐️ 3.5/5.0
📝 Moved from Nuclear Blast to Season of Mist for financial reasons. The production leans more organic than recent works. Olivier Pinard's bass is fun, incorporating unique phrases and solos, and Donaldson's use of 'dissonance' and 'melody' has also become more skillful. While the lack of overall homogeneity remains a point of deduction, they may be finding a way forward in the technical death metal route that seemed to have hit a dead end. The thematic focus on the modern hell of social media is also ambitious.

💿 Blasphemy Made Fresh (Released July 15, 2025, re-recorded medley single)

⭐️ 2.5/5.0
📝 A bonus for the 30th-anniversary reissue of 'Blasphemy Made Flesh.' Different guest vocalists participate in each song within the medley, and Billy Strings provides a guitar solo. It is clear from the modernization of the production that this is a festive project that shouldn't be taken too seriously.Regarding the expectation of 'what will a bluegrass guitarist do in death metal?'Strings played with his own unique tone while respecting Levasseur's notes.

🕷 Summary

Cryptopsy created 'None So Vile,' a masterpiece that rewrote the history of technical/brutal death metal. On the other hand, the 30 years since then have also been a history of continuing to face their own impossibly high peak.

Since the major failure of 'The Unspoken King,' the impression is strong that they have steered toward protecting their own identity rather than painting an innovative ideal. This may not be conservatism, but rather a state of still searching for the answer to 'what should we aim for next?'

Even so, they themselves publicly declare 'None So Vile' to be their greatest masterpiece, and they are preparing to celebrate the 30th anniversary in 2026 grandly with commemorative reissues and related projects. As is often the case with long-running bands, it's hard to call that an ideal image as a creator. However, their attitude of loving and being proud of their signature work more honestly than anyone else is likable.

Now, which era of Cryptopsy is it for you?

Is it the madness of Lord Worm, the complex and bizarre technical route of the Mike DiSalvo era, or the maturity of the Matt McGachy regime?

Please let me know your favorite album or song in the comments. Surely, a completely different image of Cryptopsy will emerge depending on the person.