Cryptopsy, Whisper Supremacy (Century Media-1998)
I was watching a tv show here in the UK called Room 101. The show is like a panel show where three guests choose things they want to put into Room 101 a fictional place where once it is in it never comes out.
One of the shows guests Sara Cox (A UK pop radio station presenter) choose to put in death metal as she simply can't get it. Now as far as I was concerned till this album I never got it. Or at least wanted to really get it but this one is the one that got me into that whole style of music in a big way. Saying that I would never have vanished it like shy may have tried to do simply due to not understanding it.
So if you fancy giving this a go this is a great place to start. This album was under a sub genre called technical death metal one I really still don't think exists even now as it is unfair to call any music technical but it is a way of helping to describe the music as well as the change in direction.
This music really was invented much like metal music in Birmingham, UK. If you have never been I can tell you the music fits so well. The city was a big part of the industrial revolution and many think it may never have happened on such a large scale if it was not for the size of the output in Birmingham. So this music really does accompany the cities historical past well.
A wall of noise is an easy description but track one "Emaciate" feels like that a barrage of drums and guitars greet you a few seconds in. But it does all fall down to a sort of technical conclusion and starts off in a direction I would describe as not wanting to stay static. Unlike many other bands of this style I can see how you can move to it as it is non stop energy. Bit like hardcore made fast and with added volume.
Many people hear a band like Slipknot and seem to wrongly at times call it death metal but if you hear that and then give this a listen it is a whole planet of difference. Most death metal bands have no gimmicks at all. Not that dressing up is a bad thing they just do not need it. The music is all it is about and one of the few styles of music the fans really do only care about what the next albums drum sound is like.
Talking of drums it again was a shock to hear such good playing, well recorded too. The music was as clear as a bell and each and every drum fill makes the room shake. It is that fast I really do not know how someone can play like that live, but I have seen them and yest it is like that. "Cold Hate, Warm Blood" was a popular song in the few pubs I visited that played this music. I think some of the reason I like this album so much is that the vocals really are not always there and the bad can be heard. The vocals on this track show that with a very quick verse and what sounds like a chorus only once.
All the music here is very deceiving as it does sound so easy and for many not hard to play at all. But listen closely the band is really working so hard. In between all the noise there are little passages of music not so much of a tune but like those zig zags you get outside schools. Such jagged and fearsome looking you would never ever park there.
Clocking in at 30 minutes it is that length it can be heard in total and for me enjoyed easily and it never feels to last too long. The sort of album to listen to when pissed off and I really do mean it when I say it helps. Many other bands at the time seemed to be obsessed with gore and gruesome covers on the album. Nothing wrong with that but when the music is crap I always stayed away. Till this album really blew the doors open.
Thankfully the style was not placed into room 101 and was saved by the presenter who thinks the fans deserve respect for what they support so passionately. In a time where music to many is nothing but background noise that can be streamed for free and never discussed. Try ignore this and try playing it in work the next time. See the reactions from people?! that is what music can do. Hey if you still don't get it you get my respect as you gave it a go. But one day when you miss the train and its an hour till the next one and it makes you very late. That anger does not need to be bottled up... and you can play this twice ha ha.
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