Cryptopsy – Gig Review 1st September @ Crowbar Brisbane, QLD
Cryptopsy
Supports – Eternal Rest, I, Valiance, Whoretopsy
Crowbar, Brisbane Queensland
September 1st,2016
Death metal has always been something of an acquired taste for some people, this guy especially generally prefers the lofty peaks of the black metal pantheon, but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy the odd death metal band or two. Tonight especially is a show about calculated and technical extremes. The kind of extremes your parents never dreamed about when they stared longingly into your eyes inside the crib. Extremes that make you wonder why you’re not outside digging up a corpse and moshing with it in the street, or cutting off each of your lovers fingers and whispering sweet nothings into their ear. Yeah, those extremes.
Sadly, the first band on the bill tonight is an exercise in fortitude, because while I wouldn’t call Eternal Rest a bad band. I would most certainly argue they are in fact a boring one. Which is sad to say the least, because while the music is technically proficient and the vocals are decent, that’s really all you can say. There’s really nothing else to distinguish these guys from the thousands of other carbon copy death metal bands flooding the scene, essentially resulting in an overall sense of monotony and boredom that’s evident by the largely muted response from the small and rather uninterested crowd.
Thankfully from here on out it’s a smash into a sea of floating and bloated corpses even if I,Valiance really are the odd band of the bunch tonight. Their beefed up technical deathcore wins over a crowd who would probably never be caught dead at a hardcore show. Front man Simon Kuiper cuts a rather confronting figure as he screeches into the microphone as their guitarists employ all sorts of rather daring theatrics and resulting in a set that feels short from the sheer enjoyment it exudes. The show even manages to convert a few death metal aficionados into the invisible ninja defence league as the last song sees all sorts of acrobatics in the pit.
After that brief pit stop it’s back to death metal with the Australian legends Whoretopsy who are as famous for their slam shirts as they are their death metal. The crowd are ecstatic as their brief hilarious intro moves straight into the band bludgeoning punters in the face with their sheer brutality. The bouncing riffs turn the crowd into a sea of flying hair and flailing limbs with one fan grabbing the microphone and screaming the lyrics as proficiently as frontman Storma. The set leaves everyone sufficiently keen for the main event of the legendary Cryptopsy.
Returning to Australian shores for the first time in over a decade, Cryptopsy come armed with their new album ‘The Book of Suffering – Tome I’ a technical slab of brutality which can stand proudly alongside their earlier death metal masterpieces. Once call the “heaviest band in the universe” it’s a moniker they seem to wear proudly upon themselves as they decimate the punters who respond with pure anarchy inside the moshpit.
Frontman Matt McGachy proves that he has absolutely no fucks to give as he bangs his head endlessly to his backing death metal symphony, his hair getting caught upon the beams above without him even noticing or caring. Unleashing cuts from their entire catalogue, it’s easy to see why this band continue to stand head and shoulders above their peers, drummer Flo Mounier and guitarist Christian Donaldson technical wizardry is unmatched and all members of the band pour their blood, sweat and tears into each and every note.
Simply put, there’s not a single person tonight who doesn’t leave happy, Cryptopsy have been masters of their craft for several decades now and there’s no doubt on the strength of tonight’s performance they’ll continue to strive for greater heights. If you had any doubts about watching their show; don’t think about it; just blow your last wad of cash on getting smashed in the face, one blistering technical death metal riff at a time.
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