From Blasphemy Made Flesh To The Unspoken King & An Insatiable Violence, FLO MOUNIER Reflects On CRYPTOPSY’s Brutal Journey

Flo Mounier isn’t one for reflection. But when you pass 35 years of death metal excellence, remaining on top of your game after nine albums and countless world tours, looking back is part of the process.

The Montreal native, who celebrated his 50^th birthday last June, touched base with Metal Injection ahead of the release of Cryptopsy‘s vicious new album An Insatiable Violence, which ratchets the band’s intensity to an all-time high with brutal cuts like “Malicious Needs” and “Until There’s Nothing Left”.

“We are always pushing each other, of course,” Mounier shared during Cryptopsy‘s recent European tour. “Yeah, let’s go for it. Let’s go for a ride. That’s it. That drive. Let us push this to 240. No, let us push it even faster. You understand what I mean? Yeah, that’s what we do. That’s life. That’s music. That’s all it is, brother.”

For Metal Injection‘s band of the month for June 2025, the road to album nine and immortal status amongst tech death purists began in the late 80s in Cryptopsy‘s native Quebec. Reflecting on that time and the group’s lauded debut album Blasphemy Made Flesh, the hows, what’s and why’s are of little significance to Mounier, who instead chooses to remember his bandmates who helped a then-teenage kid cut his teeth in extreme metal.

“My boys, that’s the only thing I think about,” he admits. “My boys, who are not in it anymore, but who created that. That’s it. Nothing else, man. What I remember trying to do, playing-wise? It doesn’t matter. It’s about the boys. It’s about the fun, the trip. It was about the trip, and the trip was amazing because I had older boys taking care of me as a kid, you know? So I was 17, 18. I was a kid dude, and that’s the most beautiful part of it all, is we did an album. It was called Blasphemy Made Flesh. We had two different covers. I took the photos for that album because I was in school doing the videography and all that stuff, and that’s it. It’s as simple as that. It doesn’t have to go more complicated than that. It was a trip.”

While Blasphemy Made Flesh and 1996’s opus None So Vile are considered essential picks for any tech death aficionado, the band has seen its share of changes over the decades. 2008’s The Unspoken King, for example, divided fans with its deathcore leanings, with new vocalist Matt McGachy encouraged to adapt a more melodic sound. 

“The Unspoken King, for me, was magical. Why was it magic? Because it was musically magic,” Mounier shared, reflecting on Matt‘s first impression on the Cryptopsy faithful. “For Matt’s first project, I wanted him to sing. I pushed him to sing. It’s my fault, you know what I mean? And Matt can sing. He has a natural vibrato, which most people don’t have, a natural vibrato. So here we go. He’s got a natural vibrato, I want him to sing. I wanted dynamics. I wanted to go from like zero to 300 as far as dynamic skill.

“That’s very important for me to be extreme, right? That’s what extreme is called. We went too far, too soon, that’s it. But he did an extremely good job. And then he said, ‘I will never sing clean again.’ And I was like, Matt, I pushed you through it. I’m sorry, brother. But yeah, I understand why you don’t wanna go to singing ever again, I understand. And now Matt‘s become one of the best singers that I’ve ever, ever (worked with). And I knew this when I hired him. But now, I know this even more, he can do anything. He can be the frontman, the fucking presence, and the fucking hair, I mean, for fucking Christ’s sake. Come on, dude. You have to give credit where credit is due. It’s a beautiful thing. Matt is a beautiful human being, and I love him to death.”

Indeed, Mounier isn’t one for picking hidden gems of Cryptopsy‘s catalogue, preferring to remain in the now, where the band is putting out some of their most elevated and intense music to date.

“When I start composing a new song with Chris (Donaldson), right now, if I wanted to, that’s what I’m looking forward to, nothing else in the past,” he says. “The past is the past. It’s done. Whatever it did to people, if it influenced them in a great way, that’s what matters. If it influenced them negatively, that’s when I kinda got scared and butt hurt. But it’s gotta be positive, that’s it.”

Featuring Mounier, two-decade Cryptopsy vet Donaldson, vocalist McGachy and bassist Olivier Pinard, the current lineup, according to its architect, is at an all-time high where cohesion and chemistry’s concerned. 

“The best it’s ever been. Cryptopsy is now on the same page,” Mounier says. “People think that a relationship between two people is difficult. Now, we’re in a relationship with four or five people. It’s very difficult, so people have to understand this, and it has to be very clear. If you want to take it as a business, you can. But you can’t take it as a business because it’s art. When art is between five different people, five different opinions, it’s a tough thing. So, I would say be yourself, but learn to take, take, take and take. Learn punishment. Punishment is fucking important. Failure is very important. Failure is the most important thing that you will ever learn in life. Take from it and fucking dive head first. The history of Cryptopsy is just learning from each other every fucking day. Growing up. That’s all it is.”

As for An Insatiable Violence, Mounier shares that album nine is a brutal harbinger of things to come. 

“This new album is fuckin’ sick as fuck. I mean, we had fun doing it, you know? It’s been a long time since Cryptopsy has been together and had fun doing an album. We had fun doing it. So, enjoy the fuckin’ blast beat up your ass. Because it’s fuckin’ SICK. This shit, dude, I mean…20 years ago, I’d be like, I’m gonna play this shit? No. And this is easy for us. So, guess what’s coming up after this one? Another one.”