Cryptopsy
Once Was Not

Century Media
2005
B+
Reviewed by: Cosmo Lee
Reviewed on: 2005-10-25



Posted 10/25/2005 - 08:50:51 AM by dleone:
 wow, this record is insane. the drums!!
 
Posted 11/10/2005 - 10:54:18 AM by scooper:
 other reviews i've read have complained pretty savagely about the production of 'once was not,' but this review compliments it. personally, apart from more detail in flo mounier's drums, as this reviewer notes, i don't hear much difference between this record and those from the disalvo era. i'll also add, a propos of nothing, that i didn't 'get' lord worm until i saw him perform with the band a few days ago. live, the 'badness' of his delivery really pushed the overall effect of the band over the cliff for me (i mean that as a compliment). whatever the specific merits of their singing styles, disalvo provided an intelligible center that tended to ground cryptopsy's otherwise chaotic songs, while worm's idiosyncracies actually amplify those of the rest of the band. for me anyway, that lack of a foothold ultimately serves the music far better, and hearing it becomes exhilirating in the same way that jumping out of an airplane or having a loaded gun held to your head is exhilirating.
 
Posted 11/10/2005 - 08:36:44 PM by cosmokane31:
 wow, i'm curious what the gripes were about the production. it's interesting how people can perceive the same thing two opposite ways. i, too, "got" cryptopsy and lord worm after seeing them live. i probably wouldn't call having a loaded gun to the head "exhilarating" though.