Long have we waited.  It has been eleven years to the month since Cryptopsy have released a full length onto the world.  Any fan of the band needs no reminding of that fact, and although we do have to acknowledge the duo of The Book of Suffering EPs, I should also point out that I also found them a little underwhelming.  They just didn’t hit like I expected them to.  Still, at least we had that to hold on to, but now that As Gomorrah Burns is imminent at our doorsteps, it’s time to drop literally everything you have going on and pay fucking attention.  Cryptopsy are back and they are taking no prisoners.

Cryptopsy is a band that needs no introduction.  If you’ve managed to go the last three decades and change without ever hearing of them, you deserve some kind of anti-award.  The Montreal collective, despite almost incalculable lineup changes, has managed to keep going strong, with drummer Flo Mounier the only founding member left, but the last few years have seen guitarist Christian Donaldson and vocalist Matt McGachy cement their long-term tenure with the act.  Rounded out by Oli Pinard on bass, the lineup has been relatively stable, but have not had a full-length to show for it until now, the band’s eighth in total and their Nuclear Blast debut.  Why the delay?  The answer might be the most Cryptopsy thing ever stated.  “We like to destroy ourselves to get to the root of our ideas. You take that and add in some Zoom writing sessions, and you get some brutally difficult situations. This album took so long because we simply could not get into a room together,” says McGachy.  The seeds for As Gomorrah Burns were laid at the outset of the pandemic, in a remote cabin in the woods of Quebec, and although they took as long as they took to reach our ears, this is Cryptopsy putting it all out there.  Lyrically, the album deals with general and personal frustrations the band has with the modern internet, set against the backdrop of that fabled Biblical den of depravity.  “When we dropped the self-titled album, all we had to do was make a Facebook post, and our fans would be aware of the new release.  As the Facebook algorithm grew more and more financially motivated, we discovered it had become harder to communicate directly with our fans,” says McGachy of their signing to Nuclear Blast.

As the band themselves admits, As Gomorrah Burns might be the darkest and heaviest music they’ve put out in a long time, and that is saying something.  Immediately apparent to me is the marked improvement in McGachy’s vocals.  His delivery is nothing short of savage, and his style has shifted away from the squeals and grunts of earlier output and firmly in the classic camp of what Cryptopsy vocals of yore sound like: the wild, reckless growling of a caged animal.  There is something about the vocals, and indeed all the instruments, that sound like a fire has been reignited in the band.  Flo Mounier has always had a singular style and sound on his instrument, but his blasts are that much more frantic and urgent, and Donaldson’s riffs are downright evil laid out on top of it.  One of the ways the band tried to improve their sound on As Gomorrah Burns is by letting their riffs breathe and play out a few more times than usual before stopping and switching gears.  While these songs are nowhere near a verse-chorus-verse structure, the decision to allow the parts to repeat and build up inside your brain, to the point that they become a lot more digestible but still brutal to a ferocious point.  Topping it all off is the razor-sharp production courtesy of Donaldson, whose meticulous nature not only allowed the band to push through an awful lot of discomfort and aggravation to make these songs, but also makes them sound the best they possibly can.

Cryptopsy might be lumped in as a “legacy act,” to borrow a phrase from an esteemed colleague, but As Gomorrah Burns proves that they still have a lot to offer, and they may only be getting started.  This is extreme music that still manages to push the boundaries and make their competition look like frail children on their first day at music camp.  I don’t want to call it a return to form, but As Gomorrah Burns is something special, and it touches an intangible vein of righteous fury that hasn’t been delved into in a long time in the band’s history.  Now hopefully it won’t be another decade before we hear from them again…

— Ian

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As Gomorrah Burns will be available September 8 on Nuclear Blast Records.  For more information on Cryptopsy, visit their Facebook page (ironic, perhaps?).