CRYPTIVORE: Unseen Divinity

Release year: 2017/2019
Label: Vaginal Autopsy Records/Dawning Septic Productions

Formed back in 2015, the mission of Australian one-man project Cryptivore is to bring back the early 90’s deathgrind vibe, combining Swedish death metal to good old early grindcore. Unseen Divinity, first released in 2017 as a demo CDr and now on CD with a couple of bonus tracks, is so far the project’s only release – and leaves one wanting for more.

Clocking in at a mere 20 minutes, this ten track re-release is a pretty compact package with no superfluous material. It’s all to the point, which means a lot of razor-sharp riffage, grinding blasts and brutally hoarse guttural vocals. It certainly sounds like a mixture of good old swedeath (that crisp and dry guitar tone reminds one of classic Sunlight Studios sound) mixed with the grind of Carcass and Terrorizer. Out of more modern artists, Cryptivore strongly reminds me of Finnish Galvanizer – not a bad point of comparison, considering the Finns are one of the absolutely best death metal acts out there right now. Both Cryptivore and Galvanizer succeed in lifting the best elements from both camps, classic death metal and old deathgrind, but without sounding like a pastiche or a trite retro band rehash.

Considering that Unseen Divinity is a demo release originally, it is nothing short of amazing. The sound is stellar – heavy, abrasive and organic – and the playing is tight but organic. Combined with great songs and impressive vocals, Unseen Divinity presents a project that was from the go more than ready to take on some very major players in the modern scene.

Apparently, a full length album is in the works. Luckily, because I want more of this stuff.

4.5/5

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