CRYPTICUS „Dedicated to the Impure”

Music: Death Metal
Website: www.geocities.com/crypticult
Country: United States
Duration: 28:47
Cool Songs: Cadaverous Invaders, Cryptrap, Echoes of the Macabre

Reviews of so called gore grind bands would become redundant if each one stated the bands inspiration sprang from horror films, especially Romero and Fulci flicks. However, horror films and tales of terror are an important component in the discussion of a splatter bands efficacy upon the listener. An observant eye or ear can also tell the macabre lover what films, books, and types of horror influence an artist. The one-man project known as CRYPTICUS is certainly influenced by classic horror as evidenced by the phantasmish keyboards, Vincent Price (at least thats who is sounds like) intro and outro, H.P. Lovecraft quote in the albums insert, and Weird Tales type comic book artwork.

Before gore grind bands began to depict real life photos of the most atrocious scenes, the genries forerunners used grotesque drawings and paintings. Flint, Michigans REPULSION displayed a rotting zombie head on their groundbreaking album, Horrified. CRYPTICUS' Dedicated to the Impure features a similar fantastic sight with a black and white drawing of a half-man, half-octopus abomination probably conjured up from the dreaded pages of the Necronomicon. The similarities to REPULSION do not end there. The aptly titled Splatterstorm is built around Godzilla-sized riffsthe same type of riffs Repulsion introduced to the worldor eh, the underworld.

The guitars are the main alluring point for Dedicated. Following the conventions of the obscure this underground art form, Patrick E. Bruss uses an ample amount of distortion. The production values are solid. Songs like Cadaverous Invaders will wrap the listener in crackling distortion in the same manner as Goblins score on the original Dawn of the Dead. The distortion is not overdone, though, which allows each note to be heard. Most of Bruss riffs draw from the cesspool of CANNIBAL CORPSE, AUTOPSY, OBITUARY, and of course REPULSION. The fretboard wizardry of corpses crew is most apparent on Tales of the Necrosphere and Mortificus. Much like AUTOPSY and OBITUARY, the mortifying, palm-muted string manipulation will grind your bones into a find elixir.

Bruss deserves praise for time spent on song arrangements. Being the lone member of the band, Bruss did the work of four people. It would have been much easier for the man to keep all the instruments playing together most of the time; instead, he gave some thought to the insertion and extraction of each instrument. Keyboards placed appropriately throughout the disc to provide an icy touch of ambience. Cyclops throne shows Bruss placing his guitar in one speaker while not playing the bass, and playing the bass in the other speaker and no guitar.

Dedicated has many excitable aspects. Those who noticed the 6.0 rating are probably wondering why the album received such a sub-par rating. One reason is the albums brief running timetwenty-eight minutes and change. Many grind albums are short, but Dedicated feels incomplete. The last two tracks Cryptrap and Echoes of the Macabre are the only tracks that feel complete with their near four-minute running time. As soon as you get into the album, its over. The other issue with this album comes in concern to the vocals. Unintelligible, guttural vocals are manageable if you can read a lyric sheet to figure out what the vocalist is saying. For comic book enthusiasts and horror story fans, words are important. However, if you spend a lot of time navigating the Razorback Records website and you dont already have this disc, acquiring it is recommened.

note: 6/10

Tracklist

1. Death Toll
2. Bonescraper
3. Mortificus
4. The Crypticult
5. Cyclops Throne
6. Splatterstorm
7. Tales of the Necrosopher
8. Cadaverous Invaders
9. Haunted Vomitorium
10.Necroborg
11.Cryptrap
12.Echoes of the Macabre

Line-up

Patrick E Bruss- Six String Garrote, Black Speech, (De)Composing and Capturing of Forbidden Tones