Billy Strings Goes Death Metal With Cryptopsy Collaboration

Michigan bluegrass aficionado Billy Strings has showcased his diverse tastes and genre-shifting proficiency as part of a new collaboration with Canadian death metal outfit Cryptopsy.

32-year-old Strings – who scored his third No. 1 on the Bluesgrass Albums chart in 2024 with Highway Prayers – has long been a noted fan of some of the biggest names in the world of bluegrass and rock, though he’s frequently indicated that his tastes skew a bit heavier as well.

That heaviness extends to Cryptopsy, the Montreal outfit who have been an active presence in the death metal scene since their formation in 1988. Six years after their founding, the future Juno Award-winners released their debut album, Blasphemy Made Flesh, with the record this year receiving the reissue treatment.

As part of said reissue (which arrives on July 18), the album also includes live cuts and a special eight-and-a-half minute medley dubbed “Blasphemy Made Fresh,” which includes guest vocalists such as Shadow of Intent’s Ben Duerr, Stabbing’s Bridget Lynch, Emasculator’s Mallika Sundaramurthy, and others, while Strings adds his own guitar solo.

“We are super stoked at how excited each guest was to be part of this unique homage to Cryptopsy’s first classic,” vocalist Matt McGachy said in a statement. “We are beyond proud of this medley and are so happy that we can now share it with our new and old fans.”

Per a press release, the medley “sharpens and steels the album’s many surgical hooks and pathological rhythms,” with Strings also sharing his rabid excitement at being involved in the process.

“Cryptopsy is my all-time favorite death metal band,” he explained, before recalling a night in 2023 when both acts performed in Boise, ID. Feeling “bummed” at the unfortunate schedule clash, Strings leaned on the Blasphemy Made Flesh track “Open Face Surgery” and gifted the group a cake that said ‘Open Cake Surgery.'”

A video of the group devouring the cake later made its way onto social media – much to Strings’ delight.

“It blew my mind!” he explained. “I was just so happy I could at least pay my respects in the form of frosting and that they didn’t think I was a total weirdo.”

“It was such a huge honor for me to add this guitar solo to this insane medley by my favorite death metal band,” he added in a post shared to social media. “This is like a dream come true for me and I want to thank the band for having me on it.”

The release of the Cryptopsy medley is the latest addition to a month of ups and downs for Strings, who on Wednesday (July 16) received multiple nominations for the 2025 IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards – including entertainer and album of the year.

In late June, the musician revealed during a performance in Lexington, KY, that his mother had passed away just hours earlier. “It was my decision to carry on with tonight’s show because that’s what my mom would have wanted me to do,” he told the crowd. “The reason I decided not to go home and be with my family right now is because I already am.”

Listen to Cryptopsy’s “Blasphemy Made Fresh” below.