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As the metal community waits for the new Candlemass album after the reunion of their classic mark II, the mastermind of the band, Leif Edling, thought of releasing some of his doomiest ideas. Krux (a paraphrase of the word “crux”) is actually a project including Leif Edling on bass (Candlemass, Abstract Algebra), Mats Levén on vocals (Abstract Algebra, Y. J. Malmsteen), Jörgen Sandstrom on guitar (ex-Grave as guitarist & vocalist, Entombed as bassist, The Project Hare as vocalist), Peter Stjärnvind on drums (Entombed, Murder Squad, ex-Unanimated, ex-Face Down) and some guest musicians on the keyboards and the guitar solos. It’s obvious that we have to do with a swedish super-project, since Candlemass and Entombed are two of the older and most important bands of that scene which nowadays lives times of glory. “Krux” is a great heavy doom metal album, following the classical ways of this genre. In case you wonder, it’s something a bit different when compared to “From The 13th Sun” of Candlemass (a really great album, though it didn’t have much to do with the typical Candlemass style), because in this album you will find all the good old clichés of a metal album construction, meaning the main riffs, the bridges and the refrains, which are elements that were not present in the last Candlemass album. Also, the lyrics here do have a concept, in opposition to “From The 13th Sun”. On the other hand, music-wise “Krux” could very well be described as a natural continuation of that one. All songs included here are typically doom in the vein of legendary bands like Black Sabbath, Trouble and Saint Vitus and maybe Hawkwind concerning some themes and ideas in both music and lyrics. If you like this style, or if you like the existence of the element “heavy” in heavy metal, you are going to love the whole recording without exceptions at once and forever. But still, some highlights could be named like “Nimis”, “Omfalos”, “Popocatétpetl” and the absolute space doom masterpiece called “Lunochod”, which has a concept about the older space operations of USSR within its duration of 12 minutes through extremely cool and interesting changes and riffing straight from the dark cold space. This album is able to talk to the heart of all heavy metal fans; it rocks like hell and it’s highly recommended to everybody.
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KJP / October 2003 |
