Live Review: Cryptopsy – Nottingham

A super stacked bill makes for a Wednesday night at the rescue rooms in Nottingham, with the thrill of death metal hanging in the cold winter night outside of the venue.

After getting settled with a great view on the balcony it wasn't long before first band Corpse Pile hit the stage. Hailing from Texas, USA but sporting a rather more liberal mindset than what you would expect from a death metal band from the deep south of America, these youngsters treated us to speeches on anti-capitalism, pro trans rights and a lot of anti-Trump sentiment, which seemed to go down really well with the Nottingham crowd. What went down even better were the meaty slamming riffs and chaotic grind like sections of the band's music. Highlights of the set were the stop start staccato of ‘Stacking bodies’ and the very obviously hardcore influenced ‘Force Fed Lead’. A really good start to the night and a perfect opener.

A massive change of pace and tone next as Inferi took the stage. A much more melodic experience that I personally felt didn’t really work on the bill tonight, but they got a good reaction from the crowd and lots of heads banging. ‘Heirs of the Descent’ was a memorable part of their set, grandiose and majestic, tinged with black metal riffs and atmospherics. It rose from the stage with power and grace.

With many fans sporting their merch, and a surge in numbers near the stage, it seemed like 200 Stab Wounds could have happily headlined this show themselves. Treated like returning heroes the fans really lost it for these brutal death meisters, moshing circle pits and multiple stagedives turned the Rescue Rooms into a battleground. Having found them a bit monotonous on records I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of their live performance, they played with intensity, belief and skill, in particular their drummer, who like a young Igor Cavalera had complete mastery of the whole of his kit, including some pounding tribal rhythms on the toms. Combined with the lurching bottom end of the bass and crunching guitar tones, it was a delight to these cynical old ears.

As good as 200 Stab Wounds were, it was time for the true legends to take the stage. With a huge backdrop and side banners, following a full play through over the PA of Metallica’s ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ the Canadian masters Cryptopsy appeared through the dry ice to celebration and reverence. The promise of hearing multiple songs from ‘None So Vile’ was particularly appealing, these are bona fide legendary songs and demand respect, and we were treated to them... ‘Crown of Horns’, ‘Slit your Guts’, ‘Phobophile’ intermingled with newer numbers and we even got ‘Serial Messiah’ from debut album ‘Blasphemy Made Flesh’.

As great as these songs are there was a big problem though and that was the sound. I don’t know if it was my position on the balcony, or by the guitarists own admission that he wasn't using a guitar amp but plugging straight into the PA, I could barely hear any guitar. With a band as technical and skillful as this it really did have a huge effect. These pieces of art turned into brutal, muddy dirges. Apart from this the band were immense, Flo Mounier on drums in particular proving why he is legendary in the death metal scene and the subject of a million YouTube videos! I enjoyed Cryptopsy’s set but didn't truly love it due to the sound issues, I was left imagining what it might have sounded like with a better mix which is tragic in its own way.