Union Jack Prog/Psych Metal pt. II: Dragonfly
I
really liked the first album of Crowned In Earth, a solo project of
Kevin Lawry with guest drummer Darin McCloskey (Pale Divine,
Beelzefuzz..)
and then I was surprised to learn that they had a new one and I
wasn't even aware of it. My bad ! It would had been high on my
top of 2012 list. I guess it went a little unnoticed, a damn shame
since it's a very great record. While “Visions of the Haunted”
was a traditional doom album with hints of Reverend
Bizarre. This album on the other hand is way way more progressive
(simply look at the very pretty Yes inspired cover art, done by the
same artist who did Pale Divine's debut album). I might say that, on
paper, this album is totally perfect for me, it has heavy doom
riffs, good clean vocals, lots of progressive influences and long
intricate songs. It's not perfect but it's a pretty enjoyable album
There's 3 songs
over 10 minutes and while they're all pretty good, the transitions
could necessitate some work like on “Watch the Waves” with its
awesome flutes, clean guitars and keys parts. The songs have multiple
parts that flow relatively well except it's so sudden sometimes, you
hardly have the time to realize that you're in a soft part that
there's a doom part coming your way. It's called the “Opeth
syndrome”, not a lot of musicians can actually can pull of 12
minutes songs with many different genres and parts without making them
disjointed. Some bands think that simply by writing long ass songs, they're progressive and forgets that actual songwriting is
important. Fortunately, the blend of doom metal and progressive rock
truly works here. Although, not yet perfect, Lawry is on the good path.
As his first progressive album with lengthy numbers, he doesn't fail
at all since he's a very talented fellow. Considering he plays
everything here except the drums, it's pretty damn impressive.
I was pretty
happy to hear that Crowned In Earth switched to a proggier sound.
Their debut, while decent, was a bit mundane. This one on the other
hand is very good and expands on the progressive side that Cathedral
never really wanted to explore with “The Guessing Game”. I always
hoped that Cathedral would transform into a fully articulated
progressive beast but it never happened as they dropped the style for
their final release “The Last Spire”, well here's my chance with
Crowned In Earth. Perhaps their compatriot Black Magician will follow
their footsteps as they love the organ as well. Basically a mix of
the musical heroes of England, the flute of Ian Anderson, the keys of
Wakeman and Lord and the guitar of Iommi. A totally tasty homage
with a clear personality and it feels rather honest compared to the
healthy amount of modern bands rooted in the 70s.
Outside
of the three twelve minutes tracks, there's two shorter ones (six
minutes each) and they showcase the catchy side of the project. The
vocals are a bit similar to Lee Dorrian's mesmerizing and original
voice and the lush and rich atmosphere reminds me of the mythical and
deceased band. They're pretty nice, clean and fuzzy
enough to give an airy feeling and don't be afraid if you don't like
Dorrian, it's similar but only in the delivery, not in the overall
weirdness. The groovy guitar solo in “World Spins Out of Key” is very
good and shows how talented Lawry is. It's a rare occasion to hear a
one man band playing this style, we usually encounter lo-fi black
metal artists devouring their misanthropy alone but not here, it's
psychedelic progressive doom and it's very damn well recorded and
produced. The atmosphere are magical, “Winter Slumber” has this
jolly medieval vibe while not entering the cheesy kingdom of bad
taste, it stays heavy and melancholic.
While it's not as fresh and well written as a band like Astra, it
shows that prog rock can still be mixed with metal with good results.
It's not awfully modern and full of sterile and lifeless riffs, it's
something that my dad would like and there's nothing wrong like that.
This sound is something that needs its share of amateurs and it's
feels good to hear it mixed with doom metal. Nevertheless, I think
the stronger quality of this album is its prog and calmer moments.
Maybe it will be expanded on future releases.
Mandatory for both progressive rock and doom metal fans.
No comments:
Post a Comment