Released: 2003
I have to admit that sometimes Cryptopsy just sounds to me like there‘s too much going on without anyone actually getting anywhere. The overlapping technical riffs and Flo Mournier’s incredible drumming has made them one of the world’s state-of-the-art extreme metal bands, but to me they sometimes sound like just a muddle of ideas without direction. Nonetheless, whether you’re a committed fan or not, if you’ve ever wondered if they can pull it all off live, None So Live shows that Mournier at least can do everything on stage that he does in the studio.
Live albums are questionable at the best of times; over the course of this one’s twelve tracks the vocals and drums are so far at the fore of the mix that they virtually obliterate the rest of the band. This is but one of the album’s shortcomings, and indeed I’d be rather surprised if Cryptopsy’s fans didn’t feel somewhat ripped off by this obvious obligational release. Apart from the crap sound, the track-listing is pretty dubious. Out of the album’s twelve tracks, one is merely the crowd cheering before the band comes on stage and one is a drum solo. Cryptopsy is probably the only band on the planet today that can actually get away with featuring a drum solo on a live album, yet despite Mournier’s abilities on the sticks n’ skins his display here is pretty uninspiring. Thankfully, it’s only short.
Leaving room for only ten actual songs in total, most of which are taken from the first two albums (though “Born Headless” is noticeably absent), None So Live feels incomplete, little more than a stop-gap for the next studio album. Fans will love this; everyone else will most likely think it’s a rip-off.
- Intro
- Crown of Horns
- White Worms
- We Bleed
- Open Face Surgery
- Cold Hate, Warm Blood
- Phobophile
- Shroud
- Grave of the Fathers
- Drum Solo
- Defenestration
- Slit Your Guts
Rating: 45%
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