��� The latest full-length from this extremely prolific Boston-based black metal outfit is an eponymous blast of unearthly dissonance, delivering more of that unique sonic ugliness that I had previously described as "a strange and hallucinatory mix of atonal bass guitar, warbling ambient feedback, simple off-kilter drumbeats, sort of akin to an even more fucked-up and discordant take on Xasthur's bleary low-fi black metal." You get more of that abrasively raw, nerve-rattling sound with these thirteen tracks (one of 'em a near-unrecognizable cover of Von's "Satanic Blood"), but there's also an added element of haunting atmospherics adrift among all of the howling dissonance, white-noise distortion and distant, plodding rhythms. Sole member Strep Cunt (aka Cody Maillet from the awesomely primitive and pulverizing sludgy black metal band Bone Ritual) wanders through a hallucinatory sonic haze, the simple atonal riffs and crashing cymbals all etched in super-distorted hiss, the treble cranked all the way into the red, burying the whole album in a blanket of high-end static. There's still a bit of a hardcore punk influence in Cryostasium's music, songs like "Evict" and "Into The Disposal" almost resembling some amped-up, speed-dosed old New York City art-punk band hitting supersonic speeds, the drumming diffused into a blurred pulse situated way down in the mix. Chords clang abrasively against the staticky black metal riffs, and it's certainly abrasive as hell, but the songs themselves seem to be a little more structured, and there's melody going on, albeit warped and woozy and unsettling. There's some interesting stuff going on with the layered guitars and hypnotically repetitive song structures, often producing odd chiming melodies and spooky melodies that get all tangled beneath the field of fuzz.

��� In fact, there's almost a No Wave vibe to a lot of this stuff, with more than a few moments on Cryostasium where I'm almost hearing echoes of old American noise rock outfits like Harry Pussy, Live Skull or even early Sonic Youth, especially when he drops in one of those borderline motorik beats beneath a squall of swarming treble-cranked riffs and howling feedback. There's even a few moments of honest-to-goodness prettiness in here, like the bleary, moody melody that takes shape on "To Stay Alive" that almost evokes the shafts of light burning through the bruised twilight sky seen on the cover. It's all definitely rooted in black metal though, maybe even more so than the preceding disc, delivering more blasting tempos and plenty of that unhealthy, psychotic atmosphere that seeps from just about everything that I've heard from Cryostasium. This disc is an interesting new chapter from the band, which might appeal to more than just the demented noiseniks who picked up Alternative Funeral - I'd recommended fans of both the more challenging, experimental black metal-influenced weirdness of stuff like Jute Gyte check it out, as well as filth-junkies addicted to the torturous white noise of Wold, Xothist and Enbilulugugal.