Review Summary: In adopting a more technical approach to their trademark sound, Cryptopsy continue their winning streak, albeit with some issues
Cryptopsy have become a different beast entirely from the band that released a one-two punch of critically acclaimed albums, ending with 1996's None So Vile. From the divisive Once Was Not, to the woeful deathcore effort that was The Unspoken King, the 2000's were unkind to fans of the band, and their time has been even crueller to 2012's course-correcting self-titled album. What was seen a decade ago as a real return to form now seems like an improvement over The Unspoken King, yet still shy of the standards the band established early on, and 2023's As Gomorrah Burns has renewed interest in them once again. A sentiment often echoed in reviews of those two most recent albums is "their best since Whisper Supremacy," and a question worth posing is whether this is the victory that others would proclaim.
Whisper Supremacy released in September of 1998, following the addition of a second guitarist and the introduction of Mike DiSalvo as the replacement on vocals for Lord Worm. At eight songs and thirty-one minutes in length, the album has little time to waste in showcasing the often-cited technical improvements here, with furiously frantic power chords and rapid pull-offs providing a savage sound. Emaciate shows off these new extremities almost instantly, and the most remarkable thing here is that the band never lose their pre-established identity. The outrageous blast beats and fills from Flo are as constant here as on their previous albums, with those fills especially giving the drumming a more manual, human sound than the overly processed, formulaic blasts of many tech-death bands. The gut-wrenching slower passages are retained, with Cold Hate, Warm Blood honing this dynamism in the band's tempo to a razor sharp edge. Even the catchiness of the higher pitched tremolo picking found on tracks such as Slit Your Guts can be heard present and correct in the intro of Faceless Unknown. So, this album is a continuation of the band's signature sound, and yet the addition of far more intricate riffing such as in Serpent's Coil mostly fits like a glove. Highlights here are Cold Hate, Warm Blood, which makes use of a jazz-inspired guitar break and a great melodic solo, as well as the catchy Faceless Unknown.
To say that Whisper Supremacy is not an album ever threatened by a disjointed sound would be disingenuous, however, and one need look no further than the intro to Loathe for an example. At times, this album descends into a cacophony which almost seems to forget that it requires some semblence of structure and actual songwriting as opposed to just noting as many power chords and pinched harmonics onto a sheet of paper and seeing if they stick the landing. Parts of Emaciate suffer from this, but the aforementioned Loathe is the worst offender here. The vocal performance is also somewhat disappointing, with Mike DiSalvo offering a mundane and uncharismatic outing, which is all the more stark when compared to the unbridled insanity of Lord Worm's run with the band. Whisper Supremacy is a great album, yet the cracks can definitely be heard at times, and DiSalvo's second album with the band would see the balance swayed more towards that disjointed feel rather than the tight and ordered chaos of much of this album.
