Bristolian Death Metal degenerates Cryptworm vomit forth their third full-length into the underground with a nauseating amount of proficiency.
CRYPTWORM
Cryptworm have been on the scene since their demo dropped in 2017. Since then they have released two EPs, one split and 2 full-length albums. With release titles including Reeking Gunk of Abhorrence and Spewing Mephitic Putridity, you shouldn’t be surprised with the sound they produce. I was instantly captivated with their previous 2023 release Oozing Radioactive Vomition and have been a rabid fan ever since. Does their latest effort live up to my own malevolent hype?
NO NONSENSE HERE
Don’t you just love it when a band forgoes all pretense and simply opens their album with a no holds barred putrid, phlegm-filled howl? Well…I sure do! If you had any doubt regarding what Cryptworm are all about, they truly obliterate any misgivings the second this album starts. Following this, the gnarliest of riffs that ever gnarled grooves over a solid drum track. Without fail it makes me pull a stank face and do a whole body groove shuffle whenever I hear it. Truly inspiring stuff!
From there on out the album never ceases to supply the listener with 100% A-grade nasty riffs, sublime drumming and the most grotesque vocals this side of pigs fornicating with zombies. It makes me wonder when the censors are going to bust in the door and brand this group with the label of “musical nasty” and attempt to ban it from distribution.
I would love to give some props to the artist of the absolutely exceptional album artwork. It’s disgusting, off putting, blood-soaked and beautiful. It conveys everything that Cryptworm are and fully prepares you for the horrors within.
MUSICAL NASTIES
Honestly, what’s not to love? The vocals were one of the first things that snatched my attention with their previous album. I’m happy to confirm that the utterly putrid vocal stylings of Tibor Hanyi are as repulsive as they’ve always been. It is truly a delight to hear how he can morph his vocals from the fattest, ugliest boar through to an undead monstrosity that’s choking on its own pus.
However, the best vocals wouldn’t carry a band if they didn’t have some rock solid musicianship behind them. I’ve already gushed about the riffs on this album, but more impressively is how the band play with tempo. The pacing on this album is always changing, in constant flux that makes it ever exciting to listen to. Cryptworm have spaced out their tracks that gives the impression of a really well thought out album. The pacing of different songs next to each other slower tempo followed by quicker and so on. Not only this, but the continuous change of tempo within the tracks themselves is simply magnificent. I was never bored listening to this album.
EMBEDDED WITH PARASITIC LARVAE
The best example that adequately demonstrates this is Embedded with Parasitic Larvae. It comes after a slower paced track and bursts open like a squashed zit with a gloriously quick riff. Drums crushing and crashing behind ripping chunks of flesh as they work simultaneously with guitars and vocals to leave you gasping. The furious opening riff not being enough, this masterfully chops and changes, like a murderous butcher, from riff to riff providing you with some of the most heinous sounding Death Metal in recent memory. In addition, the drums pound underneath, but elegant use of symbols makes the kit pop and crash over the top also.
Throughout this malignant infestation, the vocals range from guttural, grunts and oinks to a veritable wail that sounds as though the vocalist in in the process of choking on his own vomit as he drowns in a stinking marsh. The versatility on display here is jaw dropping, in the manner that it has just been ripped off by unspeakable horrors.
Not content to stop there, however, the last minute of the track does what every Death Metalhead needs to get all juicy. Things slow down, get chuggier than Thomas the Tank Engine and in comes a breakdown. With caveman-like ferocity that would make the most modest of metallers scrunch up their nose as though they’d caught whiff of rotting meat. I could ask no more.
VERDICT
Cryptworm have done something absolutely wonderful here, they have managed to make Death Metal nasty again. They have already been doing this for some time, yet this album has reaffirmed my faith. The music is foul, in the best way possible. Not only does is sound dangerous and distasteful, but the musicianship behind the noise is second to none. The way the band plays around with sounds, how the riffs are grim yet groovy, the drums crushing yet lively, tempos changeable and exciting with vocals that disturb and intrigue. It makes me smile. In the hands of this UK band, the often tame subgenre feels utterly repugnant, and I love every second. I am as happy as a ghoul in gore.
Cryptworm: Facebook