Hamburg-based CRYPTOBIOSIS present the latest opus of their crushing blend of OSDM and Thrash, in the band's third full-length, "Chainsaw Crucifixion". As the album title would suggest, these German Death metallers have compiled a collection of berserk, maniacal offerings, injecting some blackened elements to compound the toxic wretchedness and keep the unnerving, demented delights at full pelt, and as insidious as possible, throughout. This certainly isn't a record for the faint-hearted.

"With Strange Aeons" pierces your ears slowly as a lulling and melodic instrumental, preparing you for the sadistic embalmment of title-track, "Chainsaw Crucifixion", which takes no prisoners and exercises little restraint, striking with full body-blows of brutal chainsaw effects from the outset. CRYPTOBIOSIS' intentions are made very clear early on; unyielding, uncompromising aural punishment, for those who seek to be reprimanded by the darker side of OSDM. Rooting itself as a track to pulverise, "Man-Eating Tree" grinds with blistering nastiness, impaling with dark rhythms that reach deep into your bowels and eviscerate, striking with its juggernaut amalgamation of thunderous OSDM and biting thrash soundscapes. There's some hefty BLOODBATH feeling grooves that come through, while the overall sound of CRYPTOBIOSIS throughout "Chainsaw Crucifixion" isn't too far off from being in the vein of OBITUARY.

By this point, a glug of napalm would seem like a fitting aperitif, CRYPTOBIOSIS are really that incendiary in their delivery. The meaty, plumpness of "NecrObese" stuffs you to the brim like a slab of fois gras, fat hunks of grubbiness forced down insatiably, with an infectious hook, robust riffs and an especially delicious solo. If you're after an OSDM three-course meal, this cut serves it up entirely. Track by track, the grubbily gruesome quartet strike so many different aspects on the Death kaleidoscope, with "Madness" rampaging with frenzied temporal shifts, "Slowly Mutilated" dialling down in tempo and brooding with bass-heavy richness to provide something far more menacing and unsettling. "Screams from the Void" is blast beat heaven, whilst "Celestial Noise" has flashes of CARCASS "Corporal Jigsore Quandary". But it's the blinding shred-infused solos in "CoVoid-19" and "Even Death May Die" that got me wetter than an otter's pocket; they're to die for. After all that torturous, bloodthirsty work, CRYPTOBIOSIS cool down with the prog-infused instrumental outro, "Silent Disintegration", which omits anything heavy, simply brooding with delicate keys. Whilst some may feel this could be misplaced on such a brutal release, it personally only adds to the atmospheric soundscapes the band has mastered with finesse.

With the bone marrow of OBITUARY and BLOODBATH as the backbone of their sound, CRYPTOBIOSIS have produced a record that strikes plenty of bludgeoning to claw into the darkest pit of your soul, with boisterous, bellowing vocals and plentiful prodigious musicianship. These guys don't desist in their ability to deliver earworm after earworm, driving their maggot-riddled wretchedness right under your dermis from the get-go, producing an album that's filthier than an incontinent STI-plagued whore. They're really THAT mucky.