CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX SHARE LATEST TRACK ‘WINNING A LOSING BATTLE’

bronze

CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX have revealed the 2nd track from their forthcoming album ‘Bronze’. The UK dark progressive rockers will release their stunning new full-length on November 4th.

Justin Greaves comments: “Some songs depart from my mind into reality without consent. ‘Winning A Losing Battle’ is one of those. The track just barged itself into the world. It is also one of the musically unconventional Crippled Black Phoenix style of songs that keep appearing on our albums. The title says it all. We have been through a lot of adversity as a band in these past two years and even though it seemed that all is doomed at times – I/we never gave up or gave in. We just say ‘screw you’ to the people and forces that tried to bring us down. Crippled Black Phoenix win, and always will.”
 
The artwork of ‘Bronze’ can be viewed together with the now released track-list below.
cover
 
01. Dead Imperial Bastard
02. Deviant Burials
03. No Fun
04. Rotten Memories
05. Champions Of Disturbance (Pt 1 & 2)
06. Goodbye Then
07. Turn To Stone
08. Scared And Alone
09. Winning A Losing Battle
10. We Are The Darkeners
 
Bronze consists primarily of copper, but it is the inclusion of other metals and non-metals that gives this alloy its specific characteristics. Ever since mankind discovered the secret of its making thousands of years ago, the golden and shining bronze has changed the course of history, spawned destruction and war, yet also been crafted into desired objects of extreme beauty.
 
You will find each of these traits inherent in the sixth studio album of CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX, which is aptly taking its title from this fateful alloy. Instead of copper, dark rock forms the base ingredient in this musical amalgamation process, but it is the addition of metal, progressive influences, gothic, wave, even pop, and many other elements as well as a changing cast of musicians that result in each song shining with its own individual hue and tone. Yet a deep sense of anguish, despair, longing, loss, melancholy, and nostalgia forms a binding force that holds ‘Bronze’ together and formulates an encompassing theme.
 
This musical darkness is reflected in the lyrical themes dominating the record, which partly revolve around battling inner demons and resisting oppression. The constant struggle comes as no surprise when taking into account that poetic mastermind Justin Greaves has recently gone public about his personal fight against severe depression. For him, not letting the “black dog” devour you is a big message mixed within his songs.
 
CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX have always confounded critics trying to pin their style down ever since multi-instrumentalist Justin Greaves recorded his first ideas in 2004 – which earned them tagging attempts ranging from “stoner prog” to “freak folk” to “psychedelic doom”. Despite the wide range of musical leanings within their albums, there are a unifying dark streak and sombre melancholy running through the songs. Founder Justin Greaves had already made himself a name as drummer for IRON MONKEY and ELECTRIC WIZARD among others. When the multi-instrumentalist finally decided to stand on his own musical feet, CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX was born as a project. This involves a changing cast of musicians and live set-ups, which mirror the ever ongoing evolution of the band and the fact that the songs were mostly not composed with their live performance on mind. 
 
Between 2007 and 2014, CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX released a string of five critically highly acclaimed studio albums – from ‘A Love of Shared Disasters’ (2007), via ‘The Resurrectionists’ (2009), ‘Night Raider’ (2009), ‘(Mankind) The Crafty Ape’ (2012), until ‘White Light Generator’ (2014). This was complemented by EPs ‘I, Vigilante’ (2010), ‘No Sadness or Farewell’ (2012), and ‘Oh’ Ech-oes’ (2015), the live recording ‘Live Poznan’ (2013), and the ‘200 Tons of Bad Luck’ compilation (2009). Their ‘New Dark Age Tour EP 2015 A.D.’ was the band’s first release on Season of Mist that came with an extensive homage to PINK FLOYD. The strong influence of the UK rock giants can still be felt on ‘Bronze’, yet while CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX never denied their roots, this outstanding act has long created their own sonic cosmos and now takes it a dimension further. Be warned that ‘Bronze’ will infect you with a most deep fascination. Shine on…
 
‘Bronze’ was recorded at Chapel Studio and mixed with Karl Daniel Lidén.
 
CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX TOUR DATES
+PUBLICIST UK +THE DEVIL’S TRADE   
 
08 Dec 16 Manchester (UK) Sound Control         
09 Dec 16 London (UK) Dome
10 Dec 16 Nijmegen (NL) Doornroosje
11 Dec 16 Wiesbaden (DE) Schlachthof
12 Dec 16 Nürnberg (DE) Z-Bau
13 Dec 16 Zürich (CH) Werk 21
14 Dec 16 München (DE) Feierwerk, Kranhalle
15 Dec 16 Budapest (HU) Dürer Kert
16 Dec 16 Wien (AT) Arena
17 Dec 16 Tübingen (DE) Sudhaus
18 Dec 16 Dresden (DE) Scheune
19 Dec 16 Warszawa (PL) Progresja
20 Dec 16 Berlin (DE) Lido
21 Dec 16 Köln (DE) Underground
 
 
 
Available formats
Digipak CD
Deluxe Digipak CD with slipcase and bonus tracks
Gatefold double vinyl in various colours

Review – Crippled Black Phoenix – Bronze – by Gary Morley

cover

I have a love hate relationship with post rock. It depends on the weather I think.

Someday a gumbo mix of old Black Sabbath riffs, Bauhaus vocal growls and thundering Bonham influenced drums hits that spot. Other days the “everything louder than everything else” mantra grates and I want a simple clean palate of sound.

Crippled Black Phoenix (CBP) take pride of place in my collection as the only stoner/ Rock/ post rock band that I like. Their albums are dense, complex affairs, their live shows are powerful multimedia events and the band themselves look as if they’ve been auditioning  for the part of the  Swedish Biker gang in “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” series. I will confess now, I loved their version of Echoes that came out last year, it was a deserving cover that took the original off into new directions whilst retaining the musical core. I liked it so much that I tracked down both versions, sad…

On their latest album, ‘Bronze’, CBP tick all the boxes for my Post Rock checklist. There are all of the above and one crucial factor often missing from albums today, a sense of theatre and dynamic.

We all know the quite / loud/ quiet / shouty formula for songs. Post rock goes for a calculus derivative of that with fractural loud / loud/ full throated roar.

bronze

I described CBP as Pink Floyd’s Echoes played by Black Sabbath.

There is that underlying melodic core to their songs that Pink Floyd use, alongside the power and menace injected by the Heavy Rock Sabbath influenced riffs and drums.

Track 5, Champions of Disturbance (Pt 1&2) for example , at the 4 minute mark goes off on a boogie that is equal parts Run Like Hell and Paranoid. It shouldn’t work but it does. I want to turn the amp up to eleven and introduce the whole street to this glorious noise.

This is all things a great rock album should be: Loud, full of power and menace, but with glorious tunes and riffs that make you want to play air guitar to.

There are subtle touches hidden among the noise too, great little Rock n roll piano at the end of that track, some nice snatches of dialogue interspersed among the songs, even a brass section at one point.

There are thumping drums, great guitar parts that layer and build and build to a point of almost obscene climatic release.

Some bands make the most awesome racket and are let down by the singer. Too clean, too growly, too weak, too OTT. No such issues here, every track has a vocal that works, from quiet reflective musings to the powerful rockier numbers, Daniel Änghede and Belinda Kordic sing with passion and skill throughout.

I’m listening for the 4th time now and I’m enjoying the nuances unfolding.

band-2

Some lovely drum and guitar on track 7, Turn To Stone, remind me of the middle of “stranglehold” by Ted Nugent, where he scrapes his plectrum down the strings before ripping a glorious solo, the superb guest vocals are supplied by Arvid Jonsson.

Nugent is a dick, politically as far as I am concerned, but that track is sublime. CBP tap into that feeling here, this is rock music, big rock music.

I don’t know what the tracks are called (Ed. – don’t worry, I’ve helped you there…), but it matters not as it’s the “feel” I meant to convey.

This album is progressive and retro in equal measures. CBP are determined to forge their own path, if that path needs a detour into a forest of gothic beauty, as in track 8, Scared and Alone, where celestial distorted sounds underpin Belinda Kordic’s vocal before a Big Country type guitar leads us out onto the path, then they go there without fear and we wander along with them, out into a clearing  where Justin Greave’s guitar makes with the Pink Floyd inspired playing  before we stare back into that gothic forest again , mournfully now as Robert Holm’s Brass Section appears, not to soothe but to twist and snipe alongside the angry and menacing vocal. The sweet forest is now a threatening black mass of trees blocking out the light, but hope is at hand as the celestial sounds returns and this gothic musical journey ends.

If you liked The Mission, the Sisters of Mercy, Classic Pink Floyd and a bit of good old Black Country riffage, then this is for you.

I’m sure that there are bands out there that are “heavier”, more technical in their approach to playing, but this is, to me, what a “Rock Band” should be doing.

tracklist

The dynamic of the album, even in preview mp3 quality, is impressive. Cranked up it sounds great. There are lovely little piano pieces before the drums explode and fill the spaces. The guitars are in places shoegazingly monotone, as the songs unfurl they gain in definition, the soundscape broadens to encompass keyboards and layers of drone , all mixed, all ebbing and flowing in the mix. The songs are allowed to stretch and run to over 5 or 6 minutes, but without getting dull.

My Grandfather would approve of this album as there is a place for everything and everything is in its place.

My review file had 10 tracks, running for just over an hour. It’s an hour well spent.

There is a deluxe version of the album that has2 extra tracks. I have ordered it , although the  double clear vinyl album version looks tempting . Whichever version, it will be a thing of dark beauty, a proper “rock” album for the modern age.

Released 4th November 2016

Pre-Order ‘Bronze’ from Season of Mist

 

 

 

CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX SHARE FIRST TRACK FROM NEW ALBUM ‘BRONZE’ / LISTEN NOW

bronze

CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX have shared the first track from their forthcoming album ‘Bronze’. The UK dark progressive rockers will release their stunning new full-length on November 4th.

Justin Greaves comments: “It is time to give the world a glimpse of our new album with the track ‘No Fun’. This song might raise an eyebrow or two amongst our amazing fans, but then again, CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX have always liked to lay musical traps to lure people into our orbit. ‘No Fun’ is far from giving it all away as regards our new album –and this riff has been on demo since 2004, but only now was given birth. Yet it fits the sound, which is our best yet in my opinion and I am extremely happy with how the new album turned out. Stand by for more, but enjoy having ‘No Fun’ for now.”
 
The artwork of ‘Bronze’ can be viewed together with the now released track-list below.
 
01. Dead Imperial Bastard
02. Deviant Burials
03. No Fun
04. Rotten Memories
05. Champions Of Disturbance (Pt 1 & 2)
06. Goodbye Then
07. Turn To Stone
08. Scared And Alone
09. Winning A Losing Battle
10. We Are The Darkeners
 
Bronze consists primarily of copper, but it is the inclusion of other metals and non-metals that gives this alloy its specific characteristics. Ever since mankind discovered the secret of its making thousands of years ago, the golden and shining bronze has changed the course of history, spawned destruction and war, yet also been crafted into desired objects of extreme beauty.
 
You will find each of these traits inherent in the sixth studio album of CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX, which is aptly taking its title from this fateful alloy. Instead of copper, dark rock forms the base ingredient in this musical amalgamation process, but it is the addition of metal, progressive influences, gothic, wave, even pop, and many other elements as well as a changing cast of musicians that result in each song shining with its own individual hue and tone. Yet a deep sense of anguish, despair, longing, loss, melancholy, and nostalgia forms a binding force that holds ‘Bronze’ together and formulates an encompassing theme.
 
This musical darkness is reflected in the lyrical themes dominating the record, which partly revolve around battling inner demons and resisting oppression. The constant struggle comes as no surprise when taking into account that poetic mastermind Justin Greaves has recently gone public about his personal fight against severe depression. For him, not letting the “black dog” devour you is a big message mixed within his songs.
 
CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX have always confounded critics trying to pin their style down ever since multi-instrumentalist Justin Greaves recorded his first ideas in 2004 – which earned them tagging attempts ranging from “stoner prog” to “freak folk” to “psychedelic doom”. Despite the wide range of musical leanings within their albums, there are a unifying dark streak and sombre melancholy running through the songs. Founder Justin Greaves had already made himself a name as drummer for IRON MONKEY and ELECTRIC WIZARD among others. When the multi-instrumentalist finally decided to stand on his own musical feet, CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX was born as a project. This involves a changing cast of musicians and live set-ups, which mirror the ever ongoing evolution of the band and the fact that the songs were mostly not composed with their live performance on mind. 
 
Between 2007 and 2014, CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX released a string of five critically highly acclaimed studio albums – from ‘A Love of Shared Disasters’ (2007), via ‘The Resurrectionists’ (2009), ‘Night Raider’ (2009), ‘(Mankind) The Crafty Ape’ (2012), until ‘White Light Generator’ (2014). This was complemented by EPs ‘I, Vigilante’ (2010), ‘No Sadness or Farewell’ (2012), and ‘Oh’ Ech-oes’ (2015), the live recording ‘Live Poznan’ (2013), and the ‘200 Tons of Bad Luck’ compilation (2009). Their ‘New Dark Age Tour EP 2015 A.D.’ was the band’s first release on Season of Mist that came with an extensive homage to PINK FLOYD. The strong influence of the UK rock giants can still be felt on ‘Bronze’, yet while CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX never denied their roots, this outstanding act has long created their own sonic cosmos and now takes it a dimension further. Be warned that ‘Bronze’ will infect you with a most deep fascination. Shine on…
 
‘Bronze’ was recorded at Chapel Studio and mixed with Karl Daniel Lidén.
 
CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX TOUR DATES
+PUBLICIST UK +THE DEVIL’S TRADE   
 
08 Dec 16 Manchester (UK) Sound Control         
09 Dec 16 London (UK) Dome
10 Dec 16 Nijmegen (NL) Doornroosje
11 Dec 16 Wiesbaden (DE) Schlachthof
12 Dec 16 Nürnberg (DE) Z-Bau
13 Dec 16 Zürich (CH) Werk 21
14 Dec 16 München (DE) Feierwerk, Kranhalle
15 Dec 16 Budapest (HU) Dürer Kert
16 Dec 16 Wien (AT) Arena
17 Dec 16 Tübingen (DE) Sudhaus
18 Dec 16 Dresden (DE) Scheune
19 Dec 16 Warszawa (PL) Progresja
20 Dec 16 Berlin (DE) Lido
21 Dec 16 Köln (DE) Underground
 
 
Available formats
Digipak CD
Deluxe Digipak CD with slipcase and bonus tracks
Gatefold double vinyl in various colours

Review – Vly – I/(Time) – by John Simms

Cover

There was a time, many moons ago, when bands spent days, weeks and even months together in a studio sweating over their latest collection of songs, honing the compositions together to produce the best sound they could with the available technology and their collective skills. In more recent years a new phenomenon has arisen of albums put together without the band having to be in the same room or even the same continent! Vly’s ‘I/ (Time)’ is such a product.

The brainchild of former Crippled Black Phoenix guitarist Karl Demata, the band is made up of his former band-mate Chris Heilmann on bass, Keith Gladysz on vocals, Elisa Montaldo on keys and Mattias Olsson on drums, making it a truly international ensemble, drawing from the UK, US, Italy & Sweden.

The music is deeply rooted in classic prog with more contemporary elements surfacing throughout the mix. The opener, ‘Circles’ has a strong Radiohead or Riverside vibe for me to begin with, with shades of Pink Floyd coming out in the guitar solo. That Floyd influence comes across in ‘Time’ – the title track, I suppose – but with a touch of Bowie and even The Beatles in there. This is a bigger sound, building to a stirring crescendo, before segueing into ‘Time Elapsed’, an electronic ambient interlude.

Headache’ begins with a jazzy bass, and the song itself puts me in mind of Hogarth-era Marillion. It is more of a ‘song’ in its structure than the earlier tracks to me. ‘Out of the Maze’ is darker tune, rockier and riff-driven: in contrast ‘Hypnotic’ is just that – slower, quite mesmeric with good overlapping counterpoint.

Time Remembered’ is a gentle solo piano interlude – quite beautiful in its simplicity. ‘Silver Beaches’ is the first of a trio of tunes in triple time, an acoustic song with staccato strings, airy vocals and Hammond organ that builds towards the end of the song. It puts me in mind of Steven Wilson, but more cheerful.

Message in Water’ begins heavier, but soon settles into a gentle 6/8 rhythm, with some nice bluesy slide guitar near the end. ‘Dark Days’ has a good riffy start, with vocals that evoke in turn Al Stewart, Tom Petty and David Bowie (to me anyhow).

Perfect Place’, the longest song of the set at 8:36, wears its Floyd influences clearly on its sleeve (in the way that the bands Freedom to Glide and Airbag do – there are clear similarities between the two here), even in its more ‘experimental’ passages in the final third of the track that are more ‘Meddle’ than ‘Division Bell’. ‘The album concludes with ‘Time Forgotten’, a gentle ambient piece that draws you in before letting you go.

If your preference is for music which evokes the classic era of Progressive rock, then there is much in this offering to satisfy, but you will also be challenged. The musicianship is exemplary throughout. Having heard very little of Demata’s work with CBP I can’t comment as to how it compares, but this is a very worthwhile project.

Released 18th September 2015

Buy I/(Time) from Laser’s Edge on bandcamp