| 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. |