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Cryptopsy: Once was not

04/06/12 || The Duff

With the release of two of the most influential death metal albums of the scene if not three or four depending on where you stand with vocals, Cryptopsy were to release their fifth album, their first in five years, to speculation, hopes and dreams.

The last two records, “Whisper Supremacy” and “… And Then You’ll Beg” featured the more hardcore-leaning vocals of Mike DiSalvo to the disheartenment of many who a) were at a loss without Lord Worm’s exceptionally unique vocals fronting the band and b) think hardcore is a shitbowl deluxe.

But the music of both albums nonetheless remained the uncompromising, rhythmically complex and brutal death metal of the band’s two most important records, “Blasphemy Made Flesh” and especially “None So Vile”, all the while developing into an even more technically frenzied machine.

With “Once Was Not”, the band announced a return of deranged professor supreme Lord Worm, unfortunately alongside the departure of long-standing guitar player Jon Levasseur who had written everything with the band thus far and yet whose only credit to “Once Was Not” is flamenco guitar intro “Luminum”.

Firstly, the production on “Once Was Not” is not tremendous but fitting for an album that tries to come across as controlled chaos plus one madman at the forefront. New-age death metal with a crusty aesthetic makes it peculiar, endearing and less pretentious – it’s as if the band knew they didn’t quite have the chops but still a killer record were they to turn their weaknesses into strengths and present this as more of an atmospheric Cryptopsy.

The drums come across spectacularly through the grime, and essentially make the album. The variety brought to what is quite mundane riffing with hints of Cryptopsy greatness is alarming due to the rhythm section. I’m not saying the music is bad, but a lot of this would’ve been scrapped if we didn’t have the drums to back up everything so inventively.

The second ingredient to salvage the record is Lord Worm, who again brings an entirely new definition to variety to the table. Some people criticised the man for sounding worn out, but while some of his approaches sound like he’s trying too hard, it all comes across as intentional to drive home the madness. Gurgles, screeches, gutturals, rasps, spoken parts (the guy is an English teacher and a poet, afterall), all brings the sense of lunacy to a boil.

So, while some stated this album to be sub-par for a 5 year wait, honestly the band watered down their style because they didn’t have it in them anymore yet evolved nonetheless into something that on many levels is just as entertaining as the musical greatness of records past. I can fault this record for what it isn’t, but in the end its charms make it one of the few records I can listen to objectively enough so as not to compare it to a band’s stellar back-catalogue.

6,5

Information
Released: 2005
Label: Century Media
Website: Cryptopsy MySpace
Band
Lord Worm: vocals
Alex Auburn: guitars, backing
Éric Langlois: bass
Flo Mounier: drums, percussion, backing vocals

Tracklist
01. Luminum
02. In the Kingdom Where Everything Dies, the Sky Is Mortal
03. Carrionshine
04. Adeste Infidelis
05. The Curse of the Great
06. The Frantic Pace of Dying
07. Keeping the Cadaver Dogs Busy
08. Angelskingarden
09. The Pestilence That Walketh in Darkness (Psalm 91 : 5-8)
10. The End
11. Endless Cemetery

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