Style: technical death metal, brutal death metal, deathcore (harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Origin, Archspire, Benighted, Analepsy, Rings of Saturn
Country: Germany
Release date: 11 April 2025
For a week when I was younger, I thought Brain Drill’s Apocalyptic Feasting was the sickest thing ever; how on earth could anything be that technical? I quickly realized it’s the absolute worst form of tech death, the lads sacrificing any semblance of songwriting in favor of chaotic scale exercises. Cytotoxin are Germany’s answer to Brain Drill, but despite their unhinged technicality and brutality, the quintet don’t forget what songwriting is for the most part. Just like their four previous albums, Biographyte riffs, solos, and breakdowns through some of the most intense forty-seven minutes of metal you’ll hear all year.
Opening in similar fashion to Viraemia’s legendary 2009 EP (that is, with an absolutely STUPID string run up and down a scale), Biographyte wastes no time to show what Cytotoxin are all about: being a radioactive force of destruction like an atomic bomb. Soon after the wickedly technical opening, a skittery, rhythmic riff propels the song forward, creating a serious risk of dislocating your neck at Mach-1. Guitarists Fonzo and Jason utilize the same recognizable style they’ve had since 2010 of mixing the grooviness of Soreption, the pulverizing brutality of Analepsy, and the technicality of Archspire. Their style is, in a word, br00tal. However, the riffs on Biographyte are leagues ahead of the leads. Each time Fonzo and Jason decide to really let loose their wank, it comes across about as mature as Brain Drill or Rings of Saturn, particularly because the guitar tones when they do it are frail and treble heavy in isolation. When Cytotoxin stick to the arpeggiated, staccato attack of tracks like “Biographyte” and “Transition of the Staring Dead,” the band are firing at their absolute best.
The immaturity of the noodly parts is in stark contrast to the lyrical themes which describe in a series of vignettes what happened to the abandoned city of Pripiyat after the Chernobyl disaster—a weighty topic the music isn’t quite serious enough to do justice. But ignoring lyrical content (as I so often do), Cytotoxin lean so far into excess it’s impossible not to be impressed. Some of the solos, while not always composed amazingly, are actually so insanely technical it’s hard not to be stunned (see “Transition of the Staring Dead” and “Eventless Horizon”). Moreover, the breakdowns throughout Biographyte are also so goddamn heavy I’d certainly be afraid for my life in a Cytotoxin moshpit. The band saves the heaviest, and surprisingly most melodic, track for last, “From Bitter Rivers,” and it’s a damn good closer, synthesizing every successful aspect of Biographyte into one six minute banger.
Cytotoxin are fun and br00tal, but that’s all there is to them, and at forty-seven minutes, the schtick is played out—notice that the absolute masters of the unreally technical style, Archspire, never exceed thirty-five minutes on an album. That phenomenon is for a reason, and by the end of Biographyte, I’m needing some variety—the two interlude tracks are a breather but more annoying than anything. Despite the quality never noticeably waning—besides when the tracks lean too far into the obnoxiously technical leads like on chunks of “Bulloverdozed” and “The Everslave.” If Biographyte didn’t end with its strongest track, this length issue would be an even bigger problem, though.
I’ve been listening to Cytotoxin for a long time, and my reactions to each subsequent release sadly show how my music taste has matured; no longer do I think absurd technicality or heaviness are the pinnacle of music. But for a style I’ve largely moved away from, Cytotoxin are certainly one of the premier acts, and it brings me great satisfaction to say that Biographyte is still a good album despite its obvious flaws. And when I’m old and wizened, done with all the pretentious nonsense that tickles my fancy right now, I know I’ll be listening to Biographyte enjoying the simple pleasures of a good riff, solo, and breakdown.
Recommended tracks: Biographyte, Behind Armored Doors, Transition of the Staring Dead, From Bitter Rivers
You may also like: Brain Drill, Viraemia, Retromorphosis, Soreption, Spawn of Possession, NYN
Final verdict: 6/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Label: independent
Cytotoxin is:
– V. T. (bass)
– Fonzo (guitars)
– Grimo (vocals)
– Jason (guitars)
– Maximilian Panzer (drums)
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