review by: Roberto Martinelli

Cryptopsy made an indelible mark on the death metal scene with their first two albums. Their second (None So Vile) in particular is a milestone in the technical death genre. Their third album, Whisper Supremacy, was a bit of a disappointment. It remained largely true to the style that Cryptopsy had had on their first two albums, but was marred by a production too mucky for the intricacies of the music. For lack of a better term, the production was too ostentatious. The grindcore-like feel of the album also was somewhat of a turnoff, and there is a feeling that the band had sacrificed too much purely for the purpose of topping themselves in the musical technicality department.

So now the band has released their fourth album, And Then You'll Beg, which is a definite improvement over the last album. Cryptopsy continue to be one of the bands to uphold the standard to which other technical death metal bands are compared to. Technical death freaks will be pleased to know that this is probably the most technical piece of work Cryptopsy has ever done.

Cryptopsy continue to employ their style of songs with riffs that repeat themselves very few times, peppered with twangy and funky bass parts. The drumming continues to astound: aside from the usual kudos that talented extreme metal drummers receive, Flo Mounier has the interesting knack of disguising his flawless ability of being in complete control with the semblance of just the opposite. His unique blast beat in particular is a perfect example of this, conjuring up an image of a large cardboard box tumbling end over end at great speed.

The lead guitar work is less dissonant and chaotic this time around, and is more varied. While the production complements the musicianship properly, the album doesn't sound as earthy and heavy as the first two do. The vocals also sound less sloppy than they did on the third album, now being in a more coherent and tight hardcore-meets-death-metal style.

Cryptopsy have jumped on that didgeridu bandwagon that more than a few bands have been riding of late. The last tracks features a fairly lengthy didgeridu intro that almost sounds like it includes underlying vocals that have been produced to sound like didgeridu-esque shrieks. This intro has an urgent, uneasy edge to it.

The big drawback about technical death is that much of the time the songs don't really sound like songs, but rather as seven or so pieces of music stitched together. While this very same aspect is to some blissful, to many others it means that the music has the tendency to not be memorable at all; it is only after repeated listens that any of the songs begin to stick. Until then, the music sounds like a blur, punctuated here and there by a rare melody or piece that you can immediately sink your teeth into. If you have this kind of time and patience, then And So You'll Beg would be a wise purchase, as it's got so much stuff to listen to and digest, but in a mathematical way. Make no mistake, the album is a brilliant piece of musical prowess, but if you are the kind of person who has a lot of albums to listen to, you may not care to spend as much time waiting until albums like this begin to click. But when it does, you'll love it. If you haven't already, start from the beginning with the debut, Blasphemy Made Flesh, and work your way up.

Reviewer's note: More than a year and a half after I reviewed this album, And So You'll Beg has become not only my favorite Cryptopsy album overall, but one of my favorite death metal albums. Just track 2, "We Bleed," is enough to warrant this distinction.