Review Summary: Metalcore breakdowns, clean vocals, keyboards... What the hell happened to Cryptopsy?
Replacing a long time revered vocalist isn't simple. It's even harder if this vocalist is widely considered one the best the genre has ever had. This happened to Matt McGachy, when he was asked to replace Lord Worm for Cryptopsy's newest release,
The Unspoken King. The band had a huge reputation to live up to, especially after their last release
Once Was Not, which was well received by both fans and critics. But instead of continuing down the same path of technical death metal, they decided to go do something else. They wanted to do something completely different, and that was clearly the wrong thing to do.
It's hard to say what's actually wrong with this album, because everything feels wrong, as if this is a totally different band than they were a few years ago. This is because the album doesn't sound like anything the band has done before. Sure, it sounds brutal and agressive, but that's not really saying much. It's not just the fact that Lord Worm is no longer in the band, which does affect their sound a lot, but the overall feel of this 'album'.
The vocals are really the main problem here. This is because Matt sings. Clean vocals on a Cryptopsy album! That's like Weezer trying to make a death metal record, it just doesn't work. To make matters worse, he can't even get his vocals right. Don't get me wrong, he's a pretty decent growler, but his clean vocals are just horrendous. To make the picture complete, the lyrics are just as uninspired and empty as the songs. The great Cryptopsy now sounds like a silly metalcore act, trying to be cool by boasting out a few growls now and then.
Of course, when you've got metalcore vocals, you want to have breakdowns! And this album is filled with them. Sadly, they are all pretty bad. The once so great Cryptopsy rhythmic section has been reduced to a background role, playing repetitive and uninspired riffs. The only one who's doing a decent job is the drummer Florent Mounier. He is still drumming at lightning speed, but even his performance sounds hollow and tepid after a few listens. Don't bother looking for the new keyboard player either, the few times you can actually hear her doing something on this record it's just as forgettable as the rest.
I never could imagine that the band that created the masterpiece
None So Vile could release an utter disgrace to their legacy like
The Unspoken King. I don't care what you would call this, whether it's deathcore or metalcore, it doesn't change the fact that this is a complete abortion of an album.
The Good:
- Matt's growls are decent
- They tried to do something different
The Bad:
- Matt's clean vocals
- Boring riffs
- The keyboard doesn't add anything
- Bad lyrics
- Doesn't sound like Cryptopsy at all
