Band:	Cryptopsy
Album:	And Then You'll Beg
Style:	Brutal death metal
Release date:	October 2000

01. ...And Then It Passes
02. We Bleed
03. Voice Of Unreason
04. My Prodigal Sun
05. Shroud
06. Soar And Envision Sore Vision
07. Equivalent Equilibrium
08. Back To The Worms
09. Screams Go Unheard

Well, I was sitting around, thinking, ?I should probably review something, but what?? I haven's gotten any new albums the last couple of weeks, so it had to be something old. It was then that I realized that Metal Storm was missing material on my personal favorite brutal death band: Cryptopsy. I therefore decided to eliminate the problem.

Many people maintain that None So Vile is Cryptopsy's best release thus far, and I have always been inclined to agree with them. Songs like ?Slit Your Guts? and ?Benedictine Convulsions? are some of my all-time favorites. However, the more I listen to And Then You?ll Beg, the more I grow to love it. Largely a different band than they were during None so Vile, Cryptopsy have never sounded more focused. They most definitely knew what they wanted to accomplish with this album from the beginning. And I must say, they succeeded. Their technicality is simply unmatched by anyone else in the current world of death metal. You need only listen to the title track to come to the same conclusion. The riffs are lightning fast and all over the place, but they're done with such precision that NASA scientists should be left in astonishment. The same holds true for every other song on the album. And of course, they always remember to give the speed riffing a break every now and then and lay down a great groove sure to get stuck in your head. Unfortunately, this may also be the album's one weakness, as but for a few exceptions, none of the songs really distinguish themselves from the others. However, when listening, you couldn's care less.

As many of you probably know, this was Mike DiSalvo's second and last album with the band. This is fairly big disappointment to me, as I feel his vocal style fit the band perfectly. I loved him on Whisper Supremacy, and while his voice took a little getting used to on this one, I still liked it a lot. I am one of the seemingly few who preferred his vocals to Lord Worm's, as his always came across as dull and powerless to me. Mike's voice on the other hand had a forceful edge to it that I really enjoyed.

And speaking of band members, is Flo Mounier human? The drumming on this is insane. I have to believe that my arms and legs would fall off after an attempt to play one song off this album. I?ve heard entire percussion ensembles that wouldn's be able to pull off anything even close to what that man is doing.

Now, I must level with you. This album takes A LOT of getting used to. For me that meant probably fifteen or more spins. In fact, I don's think you can ever get to the point where you completely know this album. But that is part of why it's so great. Much of the joy I get out of And Then You?ll Beg is knowing the destination I'm headed for, but even though I?ve made the journey several times before, I never remember just quite how I'm going to get there.

The bottom line is this. If brutal death metal isn's your cup of tea, be VERY wary around this album, as it will likely leave you confused and your ears in pain. If, however, it is your thing and you don's already own this, then what is wrong with you? Go and buy it right now. Meanwhile, the rest of us are forced to wait in anticipation of Cryptopsy's next masterpiece, which for me is going to mean a hard lesson in patience. And oh yeah, the only reason I'm not giving this a perfect score is because it does have one slight flaw, and I?ve decided to be harder on my reviews.