Normally I don't like too much thrash, but Cryptic Writings isn't all thrash, if at all, really. It combines classic metal and punk influences with some stellar guitar work to make one hell of an album. All of the instruments have their moments in the sun, especially the guitar playing that is done by both Dave Mustaine and Marty Friedman. Plus, more than just a couple songs on here are some more of the well known songs from the band. Such as the classic song
Trust, which has a nice little drum beat to it at the beginning before a cool bass line comes rolling in for several seconds with a guitar heard in the background. The guitar lead played is killer and might be one of the more recognized licks from the year of 1997. The chorus where Dave sings
My body aches from mistakes, betrayed by lust. We lied to each other so much is catchy and is heard a couple times before the entire song comes to a halt, but then the instruments come back in and a stellar guitar solo is played for a bit before the chorus comes back in. Soon a second guitar solo is played in the background which closes out the song, making it the perfect opener to this superb album.
First off, Dave Mustaine's vocal work on the album is rather impressive and fits the music well to me with the best work done vocally is the tracks
Trust and
Use The Man. At times his voice will be fast paced and have a punk feeling to it on the songs
The Disintegrators and
FFF. Both the guitars on the album have each fantastic parts on the whole album and there are quite a few fantastic leads and solos that are played. Songs
Trust,
A Secret Place, and the punk rock song
FFF are all good examples of that and the one song that truly standout on the guitar would have to be
Vortex, that entire song is absolutely filled with perfect guitar work. The bass is played rather well on the album and stands out many times throughout the entire album with some very smooth bass lines that are actually quite original. The drums are good, but there isn't anytime that they stand out or are even bad, they're just there. However, I do quite enjoy the drumming on the last part of the song
A Secret Place.
The entire album overall is an obvious classic. Mainly because the album never gets tiresome or boring and there is an incredible amount of variety on the album. The guitar solos on this album all are unique and don't ever feel out of place. Dave's singing just adds to it all, his voice surprisingly is quite diverse on the record.
