Ever play a videogame called Serious Sam? If you have, you may have an idea of what Crypticus is like: it’s not exactly a revolutionary piece of art, but it is a fuckton massive onslaught of pummeling fury, death, carnage, and headless kamikaze bombers that run at you screaming, despite the anatomical impossibility that is caused by them being headless. And in the brief keyboard respites that the listener encounters, Crypticus just interrupts them by throwing at the listener a massive ball of grinding death metal fury the size of a planet armed with an armada of nuclear weaponry. And more and more just gets thrown at you.

This is Crypticus and it is good. It’s a sweet blend of Razorback Records death/grind, Swedish extremity, and the best use of keyboards I’ve heard on a death metal album in a long time. Patrick E. Bruss, the mastermind behind Crypticus, writes some of the most infectious riffs I’ve heard in awhile, and they just keep coming. Amazingly, there is rarely ever a dull moment on this record. The guitar work is actually pretty tight for a Razorback release though it’s not exactly going to compete for title of technical album of the year. Vocally, Crypticus sounds like a slightly better Demilich, with deep gurgling emissions rumbling throughout the record. As I touched on before, Crypticus isn’t afraid to whip out the keyboards, but fuck are they good. Don’t worry; there’s not going to be any minimalist shit like Burzum’s "Rundgang Um Die Transzendentale Säule Der Singularität" or the ultra-goofy shit you hear on the latest rectal birth from Alexi Laiho’s prolapsed anus. Crypticus knows exactly how to treat keyboards: sparingly, atmospheric only when absolutely needed, and then immediately pull straight back into the grinding holocaust that is Dedicated to the Impure. While the production fits the overall lumbering sound of this behemoth of an album, I can’t help but wish they brought out the guitars more as there are some decent shredding sequences in there that will definitely delight the speedier thrash fans out there.

Crypticus is definitely a band to look out for in the future. There’s very little filler and a huge amount of substance to Dedicated to the Impure. Let’s pray to Cthulhu to find a way to get the band to tour.

Review byNecro-tron