Cryptopsy is a Canadian death metal band from Montreal. Founded in 1991, the band initially consisted of drummer Mike Atkin, guitarist Steve Thibault, and vocalist Dan "Lord Worm' Greening. The band initially formed in 1988 under the name Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, releasing numerous demos before disbanding and reforming with new members Dave Galea and Flo Mounier in 1991, eventually renaming to Cryptopsy and releasing their debut album, Blasphemy Made Flesh, followed by their second album, None So Vile, which is regarded as an influential cult classic in the death metal underground. To date the band have released nine albums, two EPs, and a live album.

Canadian death/thrash metal band Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (O.C.D.) was formed in April 1988 by drummer Mike Atkin, guitarist Steve Thibault and vocalist Dan "Lord Worm" Greening, later renaming to Necrosis. John Todds later joined on bass. The band released several demos, including Mastication and Heterodontism (1989) and Realms of Pathogenia (1991). Mike Atkin announced his departure in the summer of 1991, after which the band was considered to be finished. In October 1991, Dave Galea (ex guitarist of Montreal industrial metal band Reactor) and Steve Thibault decided to collaborate on a new band. The new lineup initially consisted of Steve Thibault on rhythm guitar and Dave Galea on lead guitar, vocalist Dan "Lord Worm' Greening and John Todds on bass (both of Necrosis). A friend of John Todds, drummer Flo Mounier agreed to sit in temporarily until a permanent drummer could be found. At the time, Mounier did not play extreme metal but quickly began to adopt this style into his playing and decided to join full time in November 1991. A few gigs were played locally under the name Necrosis, the set comprising a mix of remaining Necrosis tracks and new originals written by Galea and Thibault, with arrangements by Mounier. A demo was recorded in January 1992 still using the name Necrosis, this being the black demo with a new logo. Soon afterwards, John Todds decided to leave, citing family obligations. During the spring and summer of 1992, several songs were written by Galea and Thibault that would later comprise the majority of the tracks on the first full length CD Blasphemy Made Flesh. During the month of September 1992, it was decided that a new name was required owing to the radical change of style and the incorporation of drop tuning to B standard. The first choice, Gomorrah, only lasted 2 weeks until Lord Worm invented the name Cryptopsy. Soon afterwards Flo Mounier designed the now well known logo. The months long search for a bass player finally resulted in Kevin Weagle joining the lineup. Shows were then played around Quebec and the Eastern U.S. after which plans were made to record a professional demo. Engineer Rod Shearer was hired to record the band in early 1993, culminating in the first official Cryptopsy release, Ungentle Exhumation in April 1993. The rest of 1993 was spent playing gigs and writing more tracks, some of which would feature on future Cryptopsy releases. In early 1994, Dave Galea left the band to pursue higher education, to be replaced by Jon Levasseur.

In 1993, Cryptopsy released their debut demo, Ungentle Exhumation. This demo caught the attention of local label Gore Records, which re-released the demo and, for a brief period, managed the band. The demo garnered attention in the Canadian death metal underground, as well as from the German label Invasion Records.

By 1994, bassist Kevin Weagle had been replaced by Martin Fergusson, and Dave Galea was replaced by lead guitarist Jon Levasseur. This line-up recorded their debut album, Blasphemy Made Flesh, which at first was independently released and later licensed to Germany's Invasion Records. The album gained them a wide following in the Canadian underground.

Due to the dissolution of Invasion Records, Cryptopsy was left without a label to support their tour, but the album would be picked up by Dutch label Displeased Records. After successfully touring in support of Blasphemy Made Flesh, Steve Thibault resigned from his role on guitar and went on to be the band's manager. Bassist Martin Fergusson was replaced by Eric Langlois. The addition of Langlois incorporated funk-style bass slaps into the Cryptopsy sound.

In 1996, the line-up of Worm, Mounier, Levasseur, and Langlois released the album None So Vile on the Swedish label Wrong Again Records. By this time, Levasseur was a very prominent songwriter in the band. His guitar leads consisted of very fast yet complex shreds, which were usually played in short bursts. Although Levasseur handled all the guitar parts on the album, the band would add Miguel Roy as a second touring guitarist.

In 1997, after the tour in support of None So Vile, Lord Worm left the band, citing both health and financial issues and started a new career as an English as a second language teacher for adults.

The band hired the Boston native Mike DiSalvo, vocalist of death metal band Infestation and a long time friend of the band, after Lord Worm approved his hiring. In July 1997, Cryptopsy's appearance at the Milwaukee Metalfest XI gained the attention of many American metalheads, as well as that of the label Century Media.