Album Review: Cryptosis - Bionic Swarm
Reviewed by Paul Hutchings
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the past, but on building the new” – Socrates.
Nowhere is that quote more applicable than in the heaving, overcrowded world of heavy metal. Thousands of bands and musicians compete for sales, likes, hits, streams. Every genre is saturated. In the past year, the inertia that has crippled the music world has compounded the problem. How do you get your music heard, how do you get your art and your message across in a world so loud and so crowded?
This is the challenge that Dutch technical metal outfit Cryptosis have tackled head on. Seven years as straight down the line thrashers Distillator, the band have summoned all their strength, ingenuity, and creativity to undergo a wholesale transformation and upgrade. Gone is the rather routine and stereotypical thrash metal, replaced by what the band define as futuristic multi-metal. Invigorated by their change, there is a fresh impetus, a new power surging through the trio of Laurens Houvast [vocals/guitar], Frank te Riet [bass/mellotron/backing vocals] and Marco Prij [drums].
Debut record ‘Bionic Swarm’ is technically exhilarating. A concept album that explores the potential horrors of a dystopian future where runaway technology controls humanity in a variety of sinister ways. The opening track ‘Decypher’ sees the band explode from the traps, muscular and intensely focused on their second opportunity. It’s heavy, intricate, and blisteringly fast. Whatever the label, there is no doubt that Cryptosis have continued with their desire for speed but have combined that with ferocious guitar work and thunderous rhythms that rage like a boiling sea. Houvast’s frantic riffage combined with his cutthroat harsh delivery give the band an edge that was previously lacking.
Taking the edge off the pace, Cryptosis ramp up the heaviness instead with a sheer presence on their songs. The measured ‘Prospect of Immortality’ combines mellotron, an industrial stomp with an oriental edged riff and glistening guitar work in a demonstration of the newfound confidence of the band. Utlising choral voices, it’s brave, strong, and huge in tone and delivery.
There is still ample brutality to test the cerebral matter. ‘Transcendence’ contains remnants of the band’s former sound, but they’ve moved so far away from their former sound that it is only the pace that is comparable. Instead, we get a driven technical maelstrom which towers about their previous works. There is a real evolution that has taken place on this album and for that, Cryptosis should be rightly proud.
Unashamedly progressive, ‘Bionic Swarm’ contains a mass of influences and styles, which Cryptosis have welded together in a perfect storm that is relentless and compelling. If you thought that this band would sound even remotely like Distillator you will be sadly disappointed. Instead, embrace the new band that has emerged with a vigour, passion, and energy that few can match.
