Review by Daniel for Cryptopsy - Once Was Not (2005)

In previous reviews I’ve been very open about the fact that, despite the brutal death metal subgenre being arguably my favourite sound in all of metal, I’ve never rated Canadian legends Cryptopsy’s supposedly classic first couple of albums as highly as almost everyone else on Earth seems to with a large portion of my issues lying with the two major drawcards in front man Lord Worm & influential drum virtuoso Flo Mounier. To be honest I just don’t think either are half as good at their craft as they’re made out to be. Hell, I didn’t even like the band’s highly regarded debut album “Blasphemy Made Flesh”. But 1998’s “Whisper Supremacy” brought with it a new & more traditional vocalist in Mike DiSalvo & also saw the band heading in a flashier & more technical direction which appealed to my taste significantly more than their supposedly genre-defining sophomore album “None So Vile”. “Whisper Supremacy” finally saw me getting onboard the Cryptopsy train with some level of confidence & I was hopeful that this revisit to Cryptopsy’s 2005 fifth album “Once Was Not” would provide further emphasis to my preference for slightly later Cryptopsy than most people are willing to admit to. Did it deliver in that regard? Well… kinda. Let’s take a look at one of the Canadian’s more underappreciated albums.

“Once Was Not” saw the return of Lord Worm to the fold after two albums with DiSalvo & I have to admit that I’ve probably taken longer than I might otherwise have to plan a revisit for that very fact alone as I’ve never been terribly enamoured with the Lord's over the top & often unintelligible death growls. He doesn’t waste any time at all in reminding as to why I’ve struggled with him over the years here either as his ranting, rabid-dog style delivery sounds pretty thin & unconvincing to my ears. In fact, he’s easily the weakest element of the album & I don’t doubt that DiSalvo’s more conventional approach to death growls played a strong role in my preference for an album like “Whisper Supremacy” over Cryptopsy’s classic releases.

Instrumentally though, we have a very well-produced, creative & artistic record on our hands here & one that I’d suggest no longer fits comfortably under the brutal death metal banner. “Once Was Not” is a highly technical effort sporting an impressively broad scope. It doesn’t always make sense mind you & can sound a little like a collection of good ideas that have been pasted together at times rather than a cohesive & fluent piece of artistic expression. I do really enjoy the jazzier moments, particularly those that feature ride cymbal work that sounds like it’s been borrowed from progressive rock or the early progressive death metal bands like Atheist or Cynic.

Extreme metal drummer extraordinaire Mounier puts in another blinding performance but he still can’t convince me that he’s the real deal here. His endurance seems to have improved over the years & his sheer velocity is no less impressive than the first time I heard him back in the early 1990's but unfortunately he’s still pretty messy with his timing as far as his ability to perfectly synchronize his kick drums & snare during the hyper-speed blast-beat sections go. He often sounds more like a possessed typewriter than a tight & clinical tech death time-keeper & it baffles me to see the consistent adoration he seems to draw at times when there are so many extreme drumming gods about these days. Perhaps it's all about his influence as he was certainly one of the first to be attempting the sort of speeds he's made his calling card throughout his career.

In saying that, it’s pretty hard to be too critical of “Once Was Not” as the tracklisting is extremely consistent with no weak tracks included among the eleven on offer. Unfortunately there aren’t any genuine standouts though & I find myself wondering if Cryptopsy have simply tried to be too clever with this record as the best parts usually come when they go in a more classic death metal direction rather than trying to be as wacky as they possibly can without breaking the death metal mold. The musicianship of Flo & Worm's counterparts is of a very high standard & it’s rare that I find myself getting bored across the relatively lengthy (for a record this extreme) 50 minute duration. The band don’t seem to be short of ideas & it’s hard to imagine that they’d fall from grace in such a dramatic fashion with their very next album when listening to this one so I’d suggest that most fans of the more brutal end of the technical death metal subgenre will find a fair bit to enjoy here. "Once Was Not" isn't as strong as "Whisper Supremacy" was by any means but I'd probably still take it over Cryptopsy's first two records nonetheless (yep I said it alright).

For fans of Lykathea Aflame, Origin & Wormed.