Cryptopsy
None So Vile

THE REVIEW

My review will probably be unsatisfactory because, to do justice to this album, I would need to use the vocabulary of Leopardi or Petrarch, which I am unable to do. It is an authentic masterpiece, an album that remains an apax (unfortunately or fortunately) in the entire extreme Metal scene. Don't ask me to reference other albums because it is absolutely impossible and would be inappropriate: despite considering myself to have a good knowledge of the field, I don't know of another work that has come close to this monument.

“None So Vile” is sonic ferocity, sharp and malicious like a Black album (to be clear, I'm only talking about the emotions it evokes and not the musical offering that is pure and uncontaminated Brutal) but dark, powerful, and crazy like only a Death album can be. I've long tried to understand what makes it so different from other masterpieces of the genre, but I still haven't found a precise answer: certainly, the monstrous technique of the three instrumentalists plays its part, but it's not enough. Genius and unpredictable riffs, a drum that leaves no room for slowdowns (but that doesn't stay on static Blast Beat alone, providing us with sonic pearls) and bass breaks to complete the picture: in short, instrumental technique at the service of madness. Splendid solos, exaggerated and original tempo changes, and above all, perfectly structured songs: I challenge anyone to find a single mistake in the composition of these eight sonic gems: the Canadians don't just build a technical work by randomly piecing together a bunch of intricate and extremely difficult riffs, but they interlock them with surgical precision, giving each song a well-defined contour and even coloring it with some sick and dark melody (I'm talking about Brutal, so take the word melody with a grain of salt). The singer does an exceptional job with a very personal growl that is not excessively low (which in many cases would be ridiculous) and often performs lacerating screams.

This album bursts with perversion: not the buffooneries of the various Gore groups crowding the Brutal Death scene, a measured perversion that emerges well from the lyrics (a whole different thing from those of Cannibal Corpse and the like: these are “intelligent” lyrics, written with elegant and refined English), which, while dealing with the traditional themes of the genre, revisit them in a particularly psychotic key. In this sense, just look at the cover to understand what I mean (a classy Brutal, in short).

In summary, “None So Vile” is perfect, thanks also to a clean production that highlights all the instruments. While in this album, Cryptopsy have, all in all, stayed close to the genre's stylistic features, in subsequent ones, they have dedicated themselves more to experimentation, further improving their technique (incredibly but true) but losing that mental insanity and moral impurity that made this work an inimitable marvel. An album for tough ears and fine palates, those who love Brutal Gore Blood Shit Extra Fuck (see the comments on my review of “Foreshadowing Our Demise” by Skinless) or, joking aside, the rawest Death, should look elsewhere… actually, give it a listen anyway and bow down to this Masterpiece!