Band:	Cryptopsy
Album:	The Unspoken King
Style:	Deathcore
Release date:	May 2008

01. Worship Your Demons
02. The Headsmen
03. Silence The Tyrants
04. Bemoan The Martyr
05. Leach
06. The Plagued
07. Resurgence Of An Empire
08. Anoint The Dead
09. Contemplate Regicide
10. Bound Dead
11. (Exit) The Few

In what is likely to be the single most shocking event on the scene this year, longtime brutal death metal stalwarts Cryptopsy decided to reinvent themselves as crazy jacks-of-all-trades for their latest release, The Unspoken King. Nevertheless, this album shouldn't get buried by the chaos that will certainly ensue amongst old fans and other more orthodox death metal types. This is because it is just too good to be mired by ridiculous genre discussions.

Yes, what you heard is true - this album contains clean vocals, melodeath leads, funky bass lines, breakdowns augmented by brass instruments, jazzoid guitar solos, samples and keyboards (amongst other things). At the same time, the band doesn't abandon their brutal side at all. The difference is that within the more interesting and dynamic song structures that their expanded means allow for, Cryptopsy now doesn't dwell in brutality for its own sake. The enjoyment of this music doesn't come from the novelty of how ridiculously technical and violent it is. Instead, an appreciation of how these traits are incorporated into concise and impressive musical pieces comes to the fore and the Canadians clearly have the song writing chops to make it all work together in a memorable way. Bands like Protest The Hero or SikTh also make unpredictable ADD-metal that jumps all over the place stylistically; however, thanks to their musical pedigree and experience with chaotic song writing, Cryptopsy simply do it better and with more class.

The Unspoken King is unpredictable but flows well together. As songs like "Leach" and "The Plagued" demonstrate, the key to making this album work lies in memorable motives and the remarkably innovative ways of fusing them together. "The Plagued" is actually, as difficult as that is to believe, an extreme metal ballad. Of particular note is also the song "Bound Dead", which mixes death metal with vocal melodies recalling Alice In Chains with a finesse that can only be described as frightening.

Bands like Dillinger Escape Plan, Between The Buried And Me and Divine Heresy take notice: Cryptopsy is giving you a run for your money. Music should be evaluated based on how successful a band is at achieving the given aim of a collection of songs. The Unspoken King passes this with flying colors. One thing is for sure: this band sure does have balls.