Rediscovering my third-favourite Canadian band’s early works the other day led me to re-examine their discography in case there was anything I’d missed. Lo and behold, I’d missed their entire output with vocalist Martin Lacroix! He was the third to take the band’s microphone since Lord Worm and Mike DiSalvo, and the only Cryptopsy release featuring his contribution is also their only live album to date. It’s sobering to consider that it might also be the only chance you have of hearing the band at their pre-Unspoken King heights ever again, so it’s pretty much a mandatory purchase for fans. Also, speaking personally, it’s a nice opportunity for me to wax lyrical about how brilliant Cryptopsy used to be before they spectacularly jumped the shark, so if by any strange chance you are a fan of what is generally described as ‘the worst album released by a death metal band ever’, then I kindly suggest you stop reading right now.

Good, now the nutters have gone, it’s worth stating again just how damn brilliant Cryptopsy used to be. None So Live takes a single hometown concert and gives you a real overview of the band’s discography, from the early grinding days right up until the tech-death joys of the ever-underrated And Then You’ll Beg. You can tell the crowd are rabid fans from the moment the Intro starts, fading in as they chant the band’s name, whistling and cheering through the sampled opening to Crown Of Horns. Once that kicks in, you forget all about the crowd, as the band hit you like a brick to the face, a perfect machine even in the unflattering live surroundings. Martin Lacroix does a great job, sounding like a cross between Deicide’s Glen Benton and Lord Worm, generally restricting himself to beastly snarls but often capable of a hair-raising shriek or gasp. Hell, even between songs the man is fearsome, gruffly bellowing at the crowd in incomprehensible French before launching the band into yet another necksnapper. A shame they never recorded anything in the studio with him.

Yet as good as their frontmen have been, it’s the deranged heaviness of the music that keeps us coming back, and None So Live doesn’t disappoint in that regard – the brutality more than comes across. Flo’s wonderfully organic batterie is upfront in the mix as ever, each whack audible, yet the guitarists aren’t far behind with their rocket-propelled riffs, and you can even hear Eric Langois’ bass twanging away in places. These merry men give the likes of White Worms a strength that the studio versions can lack, speeding We Bleed up a little, crushing you with Open Face Surgery and never giving less than their all. Highlights are everywhere, from the jazzy madness of Cold Hate Warm Blood, through that lovely bit of piano that opens the distinctly nasty Phobophile, up to the piledriver of brilliance that is Shroud and beyond. My eternal favourite Graves Of The Fathers gets an especially fun outing, that breakdown being an excuse for a fun four-minute drum solo before the track restarts, and by the time the album closes with a killer seamless one-two in the form of Defenestration and Slit Your Guts, your neck will be in utter ruins. It’s a tragedy to compare Cryptopsy then to what Cryptopsy are now; comfort yourself with lots of alcohol and snapshots of brilliance like this. A must for fans.