Published on Nov 23, 1999
Sometimes, I just don’t get it. It doesn’t matter how many times
I listen to an album, I’m left there scratching my head, wondering
why something doesn’t move me.
In the case of Crimson Glory, after listening to their new disc
about 10 times, I wondered why this band continued to work in some
of the stereotypes that made up metal in the ’80s and early ’90s.
The screeching, high pitched wails that passed for vocals on their
latest disc,
Astronomica, brought back memories of late, lamented bands
like TT Quick. Oh, sure, they undoubtedly delighted me when I was
15, but now this shrieking sounds out of place, and Crimson Glory
is left sounding more like a retro act rather than a modern,
progressive metal band.
It’s not that Crimson Glory – vocalist Wade Black, guitarists
Jon Drenning and Ben Jackson, bassist Jeff Lords and drummer Steve
Wacholz — don’t try to be cutting edge. Tracks like “Cydonia,”
“Edge Of Forever” and even the title track all show signs that this
band is trying to move metal into the future without delving too
much into the Rush wanna-be motif. Musically, the band is pretty
solid, though I would have preferred to hear a little more bass
crunch in the final mix.
But far too often, Black takes his vocals to the hystrionic
range, making the band sound like they’re trying in vain to
recapture the glories of days and bands past. One word, lads:
moderation. When the technique is used sparingly, as on tracks like
“Lucifer’s Hammer,” it’s not so bad. But when it becomes a
centerpiece of a song, as on “War Of The Worlds” and “New World
Machine,” the effect gets real annoying, real quick. Even on a song
like “Cyber-Christ,” the overall theme of the track gets lost in so
much shouting.
And while I can appreciate that
Astronomica is not too deeply rooted in progressive veins
like Rush or Dream Theater, at times Crimson Glory sounds like a
band without a genre to truly call their own. There’s not enough of
an “oomph” to the music to truly qualify them as a metal act, but
they seem to dip only a toe into the progressive stream. If
anything, I would have liked to have heard Crimson Glory try their
hands at more complex arrangements, if only to challenge the
listener.
Until then,
Astronomica will probably charm the pants off someone who
believes that true heavy metal stopped breathing around 1986, and
that Crimson Glory represents the phoenix rising from grunge’s
ashes. For the rest of us,
Astronomica is a reminder why music must evolve.