A Worthy Comeback: Crypsis presents – Program Hostile [Review]

The Main MF’er, one of the dudes from Minus Militia or the guy who made “Iiiiiiiiii got struck by lightning in the thunder!” Call him what you want, but Grzegorz Luzynski, or better known as Crypsis may have just made one of his biggest come-backs with the release of his third (yes, third) album ‘Program Hostile.’ It’s no doubt that he was a little quieter than usual throughout 2015 and 2016, releasing only a small handful of tracks, however the wait is now over as Crypsis has relentlessly unleashed a bundle of kick-ass new tunes all wrapped together in one brutal album.

For me, there’s always been something so intriguing about Crypsis and his enigmatic approach to music. His dark and disturbed sound enraptures much more than aggressive kicks and the odd melody, he strives to timelessly tell a story through his productions and is heavily inspired by obscure themes and emotions. With this in mind, I was incredibly excited to hear what his album ‘Program Hostile’ had to offer and I even held off from listening to any of the previews, as I wanted to sit back and simply hear the tracks roll together in the way they’re meant to be.

Cause I’m the main motherfucker…

In 2009 Crypsis released ‘Statement Of Intent,’ which is one of my personal favourites when it comes to albums. This body of work never gets old, no matter how many times I listen to it and evergreen tracks such as “Get Hit” with Sasha F, “Torture” with Luna and “Sonic Sabotage” with Kold Konexion will forever be engraved in my memory as no less than legendary.

In 2012, Crypsis made a triumphant return with his second album ‘Cryptology’ which includes his trademark hit “Main MF” as well as “Another Shit Track” with Adaro and “Drug N Roll” with Radical Redemption. For me, this album didn’t beat the efforts of his first; there was this certain mysterious vibe portrayed in ‘Statement Of Intent’ that wasn’t as present in ‘Cryptology,’ but then again, you gotta switch things up, right? Nonetheless, Grzegorz’s second album was still a superb showcase of his creativity and talent.

Considering that 2009 and 2012 both encompassed sounds that are so different to that of modern Raw Hardstyle, I wasn’t sure if I’d even enjoy this album, however I decided to listen to it with an open mind and was pleasantly surprised.

Did Crypsis deliver…?

Kicking off the album was an intro, followed by the titled track “Program Hostile,” featuring the distinct voice of MC Nolz. For a titled track it’s always important to feature original vocals instead of a sample, so Crypsis already managed to tick a box with this track. Furthermore, the chords remind me a lot of those used in Early Rave tracks and that’s pretty impressive to hear it folded into raw Hardstyle!

“Revelation” is no less than spectacular and has been on repeat at AAN Headquarters! Embracing Drum & Bass influences, Crypsis cleverly folded this in with the raw Hardstyle genre and once the main drop arrives all hell breaks loose. Seriously, this track is beast-like and it’ll be my soundtrack when my work-out gets tough.

Another gorgeous addition to this album is “The 6^th Pathway Experience” which serves as an interlude. I love when artists include intros and interludes in an album because it allows the listener to retreat from listening to back-to-back bangers for a moment and immerse themselves in the album’s true ambience. The inclusion of the “open the pathway for me” vocal was ingenious and sent shivers down my spine – I actually had to listen to it twice!

Followed by “Punish,” which was used in the Supremacy trailer, this track has immense potential both on the dance-floor and for private listening. I was also delighted to hear that Crypsis stayed true to displaying his former shadowy and sinister sound; in my opinion this is what makes him such a unique artist in raw Hardstyle, he strives to create complex, dramatic music with a strong emotion attached to it.

One of my favourite tracks from ‘Program Hostile’ was Brennan Heart’s remix of “Break Down Low.” Maybe it’s because I’m a sucker when it comes to funky reverse bass and majestic melodies, but for me, this remix is exactly what a remix should be. It shows its respect to the original and allows it to shine, as well as adding in some fresh, new elements such as the awesome “break down low” vocal right before the final drop.

“Smacking Heads” is a track that really got me dancing and just like “Program Hostile” I also felt some Early Rave vibes from those eerie chords. Not to mention, Crypsis is an absolute genius at finding the perfect samples to fold into his tracks and he masters the whole Rap-gone-Hardstyle thing.

“THIS IS TORTURE!” You mean, “Torture” on steroids! Frequencerz had the honour to add their own spin on one of Crypsis and Luna’s biggest successes, however the original was so successful that it had me feeling uncertain about the ‘damage’ they’d do to it. I was extremely satisfied when I heard that Frequencerz pulled off this remix with surgical precision; they included the most important components of the original and even added in some annihilating kick-rolls. I was instantly sold!

I was delighted to see that the large portion of the album was devoted to solos, however within all that creativity Crypsis also had the time to collaborate with one of raw Hardstyle’s fastest growing names, Sub Sonik. Meshing their brutal forces together, the pair came up with “King Kong” and even the name of the track is suggestive that it’s an absolute banger! This monstrous track is going to do a lot of damage to dance-floors worldwide!

What better way to wrap up an album with some Hardcore?! Cranking up the tempo, Crypsis teamed up with Unexist and Satronica to create “Kill For The Thrill,” which is a track that embraces a dark ambience and heavy Drum & Bass vibes. In conjunction with this sick production, the vocals push it to an absolute high and it makes me crave another Hardcore track afterwards, perhaps in the form of Uptempo!

Conclusion

As great as it was to conclude the album on a high note, what I would’ve liked more is if there was an atmospheric outro similar to the intro and interlude to wrap things up and farewell its listeners. Aside from that, this versatile body of work really surprised me – mainly because Crypsis maintained the sound that he’s so well-known for. He really stayed true to his roots and although the game of production has dramatically changed, he managed to fold in some stunning influences from his earlier work.

Furthermore, the artwork is also excellent; it has that mysterious and industrial feel to it, yet is tasteful and modern. As I mentioned earlier, Crypsis was pretty silent during 2015 and early 2016, however the release of his third album is exactly what his career needed. I feel as though this new collection of music is going to lift him to all new heights, and I’m excited to see the spin-off that this album is going to generate! His hard work and devotion to creating something unique is not unseen as Grzegorz success is well-deserved.

All in all, ‘Program Hostile’ is a solid album that provides a great amount of power on the dance-floor, has the ability to get you through tough work-outs and is even great to listen to when kicking back at home!

Made readily available for ultimate die-hards to purchase last weekend at Supremacy, ‘Program Hostile’ is now out in the open and available for purchase and streaming, so get onto it!