July 4th, 2025 - The Blended Reality of an Insatiable Violence

 

Greetings and happy Friday headbangers, evil-doers, and hop freaks!  Your drinking buddy the Meista here rocking the hell out with a pairing of "An Insatiable Violence", the new, kick-ass death metal beast by the mighty Cryptopsy and a juicy and citrusy Blended Reality Hazy IPA from Mother Earth Brewing Company!  Hell yeah!

Album Info:

• Artist: Cryptopsy
• Title: "An Insatiable Violence"
• Recorded: 2024 through 2025 at Christian Donaldson's Studio outside of Montreal, Quebec, Canada 
• Release date: June 20th, 2025 (9th studio album by Cryptopsy)
• Record company: Seasons Of Mist
• Production: Christian Donaldson 
• Album cover art: Martin Lacroix (artwork) and Flo Mounier (logo) 
• Personnel: Christian Donaldson (guitars), Matt McGachy (vocals), Flo Mounier (drums), and Olivier Pinard (bass)
• Guest musician: Mike DiSalvo (vocals on "Embrace the Nihility")
• Musical style: Brutal death metal, technical death metal
• Sound: Aggressive, heavy as hell, technical, complex, and wonderfully brutal, the sound on "An Insatiable Violence" is an amalgam of that classic Cryptopsy death metal sound perfectly blended with a modern approach!  From the opening notes of "The Nimis Adoration" to the finale of "Malicious Needs", this beast of an album grabs you by the collar, slams you against the wall, and demands your attention, and leaves you wanting more!  This band continues to create innovative, compelling, and challenging music that just keeps getting better and better with each release!
• Major themes: A concept album... not a story, but a common thread about the follies and darker elements of social media and its impacts on humanity, themes on the album include the toxicity of social media, deception, disconnect, fear, hate, catfishing, obsession, addiction, etc.
• Tracks: 

1. "The Nimis Adoration"
2. "Until There's Nothing Left"
3. "Dead Eyes Replete"
4. "Fools Last Acclaim"
5. "The Art Of Emptiness"
6. "Our Great Deception"
7. "Embrace the Nihility"
8. "Malicious Needs"

 Brew Info:

• Brewery: Mother Earth Brew Company (Vista, California)
• Website: http://motherearthbrewco.com/
• Brew: Blended Reality Hazy IPA
• Style: New England India Pale Ale (NEIPA)
• Serving: 16 ounce can
• ABV: 7.2%
• IBUs: 25
• Ingredients: Pale 2-Row, Wheat malt, and oats with Galaxy, Mosaic, Sabro, and Nectaron hops
• Pour: The Blended Reality Hazy IPA pours a very hazy, bright golden orange/yellow hue with a thin, bright white head with good retention and light lacing.
• Nose: Fruit forward, the nose is citrusy, tropical, floral, and malty.  It is chalk full of notes of orange juice, grapefruit rind, nectarine, stone fruit (peach and apricot), passionfruit, pineapple, fresh mango, vanilla bean, ripe berries, oats, soft caramel malt, and a hint of booze.
• Taste: The taste of the Blended Reality Hazy IPA follows the nose with tropical fruit and citrus, and lighter floral and dank hops, and sweet malt flavors.  There are big notes of orange juice and zest, nectarine, mango, passionfruit, grapefruit juice, tangerine, peach, apricot, strawberry, light pine, and hint of booze with a strong, malty backbone with mild bitterness.
• Mouthfeel: Full-bodied with moderate carbonation, the mouthfeel of the Blended Reality Hazy IPA is crisp and juicy, yet soft, pillowy, and creamy with smooth, slightly bittersweet finish.

Overall pairing: The Blended Reality Hazy IPA is a very complex, yet very crushable brew with lots of fruity and citrus flavors, which makes it a great beer to throw back to the insatiable fiery riffs, brutally growling vocals, and thunderous rhythm section on the mighty Cryptopsy's "An Insatiable Violence"!  If you love extreme metal, then I highly recommend this phenomenal album!  'Nuff said! 

Make sure to check out my recent interview with Cryptopsy vocalist Matt McGachy where we discuss this wonderful album in detail: https://youtu.be/OVxRheCol7s 

Cheers and hails!!