Cryptopsy

From Free net encyclopedia

Cryptopsy is a brutal technical death metal band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

1 History
2 Members
3 Former members
4 Discography
5 External links

History

The band was founded in 1988 by drummer Mike Atkin, guitarist Steve Thibault and vocalist Lord Worm as Necrosis. After Mike's departure the band changed its name to Cryptopsy in 1992 when they found out that there were several other bands called Necrosis. The band quickly recruited now legendary drummer Flo Mounier, bassist Kevin Weagle, and guitarist Dave Galea. In 1993, the band released their debut demo, Ungentle Exhumation. This demo was re-issued by local label Gore Records (later called Great White North). This earned them some attention in the death metal underground, as well as the German label Invasion Records.

The next year, Kevin Weagle was replaced by Martin Fercuson, and Dave Galea left to be replaced by new lead guitarist Jon Levasseur. This lineup recorded their 1994 debut, Blasphemy Made Flesh, on Invasion Records. This gained them a wide following in the death metal underground, and was a prime example of high-quality early 1990s death metal. However, due to difficulties and disagreements with Invasion Records, the album came under the possession of Dutch label Displeased Records, who ended up collapsing because of financial problems. After successful touring in support of Blasphemy Made Flesh, guitarist Steve Thibault left the band but remained its manager for a few more months. Bassist Martin Fercuson was also replaced by the now well-known death metal bass legend Eric Langlois, whose talented style incorporated funk-style slaps into Cryptopsy's extreme metal onslaught.

Then in 1996, the lineup of Lord Worm, Flo Mounier, Jon Levasseur, and Eric Langlois released the album None So Vile on the Swedish label Wrong Again Records. This album took the extreme and technical elements further than the last, and is now considered a benchmark of extreme technical death metal. Although Jon Levasseur handled all the guitar parts on the album, a second guitarist named Miguel Roy joined the band for the tour.

After the tour in support of None So Vile, Lord Worm departed the band, focusing his career as an English as a Second Language teacher. The band had reached some musical differences as well, as the rest of the band wanted to evolve and expand more, and Lord Worm expressed a dislike for the experimental path that Cryptopsy's music was now taking.

In early 1997 new vocalist Mike DiSalvo joined the band. He was an American from Boston and was approved by Lord Worm to be the new vocalist. Mike DiSalvo also used a different vocal style than Lord Worm, and had a more intelligible, somewhat less extreme and more hardcore sounding voice. In July 1997, Cryptopsy’s appearance at the Milwaukee Metalfest XI gained the attention of many American metalheads as well as the much larger and more stable metal label Century Media.

Cryptopsy's next album, Whisper Supremacy, was released on Century Media in 1998, and featured Miguel Roy on second guitar. It took Cryptopsy's style further, incorporating some jazz/fusion elements, quite evident on the song Cold Hate, Warm Blood for example. Some criticised Mike DiSalvo’s vocal style, citing that it was too similar to that of hardcore and metalcore vocalists and preferred the more extreme death metal style of Lord Worm, whereas some welcome the somewhat more accessible vocal presence of DiSalvo. The tour in support of Whisper Supremacy also took the band on their first trek through the United States, increasing their fan-base significantly.

Cryptopsy released their fourth studio effort, And Then You'll Beg, in 2000. The album featured a new guitarist, Alex Auburn, replacing Miguel Roy. Alex also played more solos, and would replaced Levasseur as Cryptopsy's main guitarist. This album is viewed as a bit less extreme than the previous albums, but just as experimental and as technical as ever. This album also incorporated even more progressive elements into the music. After the first portion of the tour, Mike DiSalvo departed from the band to pursue a family life with his girlfriend in Montreal and with a son on the way. A new singer had to be recruited for the Europe and Japan wings of the tour.

In 2001, Montreal-area Cryptopsy fan Martin LaCroix took over the position as Cryptopsy's singer. His style was viewed by many fans as being in between the styles of Lord Worm and Mike DiSalvo, making him an excellent choice for the live dates. In June 2002, Cryptopsy played their first concert in their hometown of Montreal in four years, and attracted an audience of more than 2000, which is quite large for death metal. The concert was recorded and released as a live album, None So Live, in May 2003. This release was LaCroix’s only contribution to Cryptopsy's discography. The band soon realised that the French-speaking LaCroix did not have a full enough mastery of the English language, which prevented him from writing lyrics on par with his predecessors.

Later in 2003, it was announced that Lord Worm, Cryptopsy's legendary original vocalist, has rejoined the band. Throughout summer 2004, Cryptopsy played shows in the Montreal area, and continued a full Canada tour on September 7, with former guitarist Miguel Roy filling in for the unavailable Jon Levasseur. Beginning on October 9, Martyr and former Gorguts guitarist Daniel Mongrain took over second guitar duties for the live dates. The Canada 2004 tour ended at Cryptopsy's performance on November 6 at the Trois-Rivieres Metalfest IV, which was filmed for a DVD.

On January 31, 2005, Jon Levasseur announced that he had lost interest in extreme music and amicably departed Cryptopsy, wishing his band mates well. Daniel Mongrain also remained on guitar duties for the Back to the Worm tour, Cryptopsy's headlining trek through the United States from February to May. After the tour's completion Daniel Mongrain departed. It was then announced that Cryptopsy's next album, Once Was Not, would be released on October 18, 2005. The album features Lord Worm, Flo Mounier, Eric Langlois, and Alex Auburn handling all guitar duties. On September 28 it was announced that the new touring guitarist would be Christian Donaldson of Mythosis. The band recently completed a tour with Suffocation, Despised Icon, and Aborted. Advanced copies of the new album were available at the shows. After a well-deserved holiday break and the release of Flo Mounier's landmark instructional drumming 2DVD set 'Extreme Metal Drumming 101', the band toured Europe with Grave, Aborted, Dew-Scented, and others, with a United States, Australian, and possible Asian tour in the works.