CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX – Ellengæst

Post Rock

"The dangerous nature of an ignorant mind. The final fall for mankind"

Out of the blue the saddest trumpet I ever heard sets in and pulls at heartstrings. Hardly developing a melody, raucous noise follows and becomes calmed right after when Vincent Cavanagh gently sings "you lost control". Wrong band, wrong album, wrong story? Not at all.
With the release of their eighth record, a new chapter for CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX begins. Once again. As so often, the line-up has changed. Swedish singer and guitarist Daniel Änghede left the band shortly before the album recordings.
But instead of just replacing him, mastermind Justin Greaves hired not only one but a flock of exquisite guest vocalists. Ad this makes Ellengæst so special and interesting, because musically and lyrically everything remains the same. The characteristic sound has not changed. But Ellengæst is surely the darkest CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX album to date. Looking at current events and ongoing disasters it does not wonder at all as the world has become such a dark place, which always gets reflected in the lyrics.
Belinda Kordic gets much more room for her hauntingly beautiful voice and appears at five of the eight tracks, whereas three are duets.
The opening duo House Of Fools and Lost already offers one of the most awesome duets with Belinda Kordic and Vincent Cavanagh, whereas Vincent leads House Of Fools and supports Belinda afterwards. This is grand. Goosebumps. The trumpet returns at the end of the song, together with piano tunes that echoe the spirit of I, Vigilante. I wish, there would be more on trumpets again on CBP records.

"We are lost as humans!"

Lost gets supported by a video that is as brutal, disturbing, sad and thought-provoking as possible. All the ill and evil of humankind and its aftermath are reflected so intensively in there that a feeling of nausea comes up. It is really hard to stand and to watch this video from the beginning to the end. All the more it is important that people watch this video. That people get forced to face the suffering and misery they create, that we create, me, you, all of us, and be it just for looking away, doing nothing or not doing enough against it. It is a wake-up call that cannot ring often and loud enough, if we want to have a chance to keep on living on this wonderful planet we destroy day by day. 

"Bells are ringing"

Likewise brilliant is the track In The Night with the stunning duet by Belinda and Kristian "Gaahl" Espedal, creating a harsh contrast between his deep Leonard Cohen-like voice and her eerie singing. What an anthem! Also Cry Of Love, sung by Ryan Patterson and Suzie Stapleton truly captivates.
The Vic Chesnutt cover version of Everything I Say solely belongs to Belinda Kordic, an epic masterpiece, which perfectly harmonizes with her voice.
(-) again is just an interlude with pieces of the documentary The Faces Of Depression ("The worst thing about hell is not the flames, it's the hopelessness, that's how a depression tastes, everything is black"), a recurring topic, after Justin Greaves has opened up to his own fight against depressions. Following monumental track The Invisible Past is sung by Jonathan Hultén. To me it is the only track that falls a bit short. Perhaps it is a bit too long and too soft.
Ellengæst closes after only 55 minutes with another cover version, the 1983 Bauhaus classic She’s In Parties. This is indeed short for a CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX full-length and turns out to be rather a mini LP or an EP, especially with two covers on it.

"Fill your world with light!"

Nope, CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX did not re-invent themselves on this one. It is the clever idea with the guest singers that makes Ellengæst so fascinating and interesting. Perhaps, the vocal diversity rubs off a bit on the band's creativity and thus the future sound of CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX. As it already happened on Great Escape, comfortably dwelling on familiar compositions and structures does not narrow the listening pleasure any bit. There are future live hymns on Ellengæst. I can already hear them being played in a club and see the crowd freaking out. End time ballads as its best!.

"Live to fight another day"
"Fight to live, day by day"