Album Review: Crippled Black Phoenix – Banefyre (Season Of Mist)

Eccentric and atmospheric post-infused band, Crippled Black Phoenix return with another experience guaranteed to captivate once again. Called ‘Banefyre’, the new record is set for release on September 9th, 2022, via Season of Mist.

Words will always fail to accurately describe what Crippled Black Phoenix create with their music. The band defy genres to such an extent that it feels laughable to even try and categorise them. Words like ‘ambient’, ‘post’, ‘shoegaze’, ‘atmosphere’ and ‘story-telling’ can go some way to giving you a basic idea of what to expect but can’t do the music justice. Least of all what is coming from the band with Banefyre.

The best way to describe this album, this musical journey of emotion, is to simply talk about how it makes you feel.

There it is. That’s how you categorise Crippled Black Phoenix. You simply base it off how the music makes you feel. Elation for how unique it is? Tearful because of how haunting and mellow it can be? Awestruck by the depth to the atmosphere? Fearful of the darkness that sits at the edge? Or excited by the opportunity to dwell within it?

The word beauty is sure to come up a lot as Banefyre is a gorgeous album of music. Warped by gloom, discomfort, and misery, but beautiful none the less. Even when Crippled Black Phoenix are pushing the heaviness to the forefront, the emotional value stays at the front and at the centre. Nowhere on this album is that better exemplified than by the tracks that feature epic lengths.

Tracks like Rose of Jericho, Down the Rabbit Hole, The Scene Is a False Prophet and I’m OK, Just Not Alright. The four tracks that the 10-minute mark and the four tracks that have the most depth, imagination, and eclectic twists and turns. This is Crippled Black Phoenix at their most exhilarating and their most extensive. Which is saying something considering the quality that exists in their back catalogue.

Though, make no mistake, length is not a prerequisite for depth and detail here, as there are countless others that deliver so much of the same thoughts and feelings. It just so happens that everything Crippled Black Phoenix do on Banefyre makes the experience stay with you.

Banefyre doesn’t just sit proudly alongside their unbelievable body of work, it might even be seen as a high point. At least, so far.

Crippled Black Phoenix – Banefyre Full Track Listing:

1. Intro/Incantation For The Different
2. Wyches And Basterdz
3. Ghostland
4. The Reckoning
5. Bonefire
6. Rose Of Jericho
7. Blackout77
8. Down The Rabbit Hole
9. Everything Is Beautiful But Us
10. The Pilgrim
11. I’m OK, Just Not Alright
12. The Scene Is A False Prophet
13. No Regrets

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