Brutally effective Death Metal had a difficult stand over here this year. And bands going beyond that with outstanding skills and a nuclear determination to get there were nonexistent. True, the reasonably feisty Castrator grated on our turntables this year. But we also got more tepid, sewage-infested material, and more of that than we ever wished.
The Canadians from Cryptopsy landed in the unsavory, noisome catacombs of our review pipe back in early 2025. Not something the RMR crew readily enjoys when beach-time starts winking at ye and summer’s on its way. Especially when a piece calls itself An Insatiable Violence. So, off it fucked into the murkier depths of the Office Tower Undergrounds to fester as it wished until the time is right. And now, the call for moar metal barbarity has been issued. What gives, you might ask. Let Cryptopsy‘s mighty roar be your answer.
Active since 1992 with Flo Mounier as its lone founding member, this band still has the vibe. The vibe of abject ferocity and an unholy hunger to blow everything to smithereens. So, before we even start in earnest, let it be said that An Insatiable Violence ain’t for metal n00bs. If you like to start with metal, move here. Everyone else, keep going and enjoy.
Cryptopsy thrive where Tech Death and Brutal Death Metal meet. They exhibit an affinity for the alien shenanigans that some Extreme Metal bands manage to produce. This is one helluva manic metal onslaught that hits you like the proverbial ton of bricks. And from the first second onward. There shall be no reprieve for you, no second to take a quiet breath until the last soundbite of these long 34 minutes of airtime peters out. This wall of sound – and it is one mighty fucking wall – gets you cold with no remorse whatsoever, and an energy that will make Cthulhu’s cosmic, crazed forces seem weak by comparison.
In other words, the RMR crew finally found a band that mixes the prowess of Ominous Ruin, the newfound rough powers of Stortregn1, and the out-of-this-world musings of Anaal Nathrakh into one pot. And then they stuff all that maniacal shebang into the oven to create this alloy that seems to descend straight from the mountain of madness. An Insatiable Violence is some potent shit, ready to evaporate the last remnants of your sanity. And for that, the Acolytes ov the RMR Underground salute this band of grizzled metal warhorses.
But now get this. In all that berserk assembly of demented sonic calamities, you suddenly detect some melodics peppered with solos that suddenly erupt. Just to leave you amazed in this ocean of metallic atrocities you just sailed through. All of this is a statement of excellence delivered in machine-gun fashion with all types of distorted metal firing on all pistons at once. And you will let the record pummel you because, outside of its frantic and disheveled appearances, their – well – songs are well written and – surprise – actually thought through.
But there’s more. In this mother of bedlam, you’ll find some hidden groove and a few melodics that should actually not work but do so anyway. And once you think that Cryptopsy went overboard and finally met the lamestream, they whack you over the head with the biggest fucking bludgeon you can imagine. And they do that with about the fastest riffing we heard so far since the inception of this zine. Amazing, huh? We think so, too. This band’s not all garden fresh anymore after all.
To finally close the gates on this three-ring circus, let it be noted that An Insatiable Violence, despite its chaotic and demented approach to metal, delivered one of the most refined Extreme Metal pieces to grace the RMR crew’s turntables in 2025. This is some truly wild barbarism right in front of you. But if you listen attentively without losing your mind, high-quality musical prowess of the first order rushes to the forefront. And that is what finally sold us.
Cool record.
Record Rating: 7/10 | Label: Season of Mist | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 20 June 2025
- This one really slammed a smile on my face. -Ed.-↩