Cryptopsy - Whisper Supremacy

Ah, the gentle sounds of the infamous Cryptopsy. After two critically lauded releases on smaller labels, this wild bunch have made the highly anticipated step to one of the "majors". This, coupled with the departure of ghoulish vocalist Lord Worm prompted worry on the masses. Well, rest assured that Cryptopsy have no ideas of calming down, and yes, new "vocalist" DiSalvo fills the vile shoes more than capably. At only 32 minutes in length, W.S. is a short "blast" of an album, but similar to driving at mach 2, how much can a person take before your body decides to shut down? To those indoctrinated with the sounds, this magnificent group of adrenaline junkies puts forth more of the same here, albeit a little more polished thanks to Pierre (Obliveon) Remillard's crystalline production. Amazing actually, since there's this weird push-pull of ideas constantly in motion, where it seems as though each instrument is vying for the same aural space, yet working in unison at the same time. This has got to sound like a nervous breakdown on tape to the rest of the world though, yet there's this underlying current of control in the guitars holding this avalanche together. Good thing, as Flo Mounier is definitely schooled in the Steve Flynn (Atheist) school of rhythm, arms and legs hitting anything and everything at once. You can totally picture him all jittery, wearing a bike helmet in the grocery store. Yet, as I stated before, for all the speed and intensity, the individuality of songs shines through. Riffs are thrown in a blender, but the solos are memorable, as is the basswork. One drawback? I can't bloody well think when hearing this, as witnessed by this review, written under the headphone influence of this most massive achievement of noise. Not for the faint of heart.