Crown: " Psychurgy"

Here is yet another French metal band or duo rather, this time however they aren’t any sort of black metal, though they are experimental
Billed as two men and a machine, the two guitars churn against the drum programming which manages to sound relatively organic at the on set
Very droney and noisey the first “song” is muddy samples and white noise, the first actual song is “Abyss” it’s a slow Godflesh like pounding , though the post labels could be applied all over , what I do like about is it is the sonic heaviness.

“Blood runs”, comes back in where the last song left off, it steam rolls through the vocal pattern pretty much a static bellow 1:45 the clouds break and melodies breathes in. They have to encyclopedia of sludge riffs down to bridge pockets of soaring ambiance, which I think are more interesting than their heavier dynamic as most of the experimentation takes place during these sections. The harsh vocals are very monotone and use the same syncopation, the clean melodic singing is more well placed and produced, while they hand in the apathetic Jesu range, they are coated with varied effects to darken them up.

“Empress Hierophant” begins stripped all the way down to the beat and add layers as it goes. The Lower range vocals are similar to those Neurosis uses, the drone over a sparse verse, with minimal guitar accents, that create more of the throb, it feels like it should be perhaps the soundtrack to eraser head or utilized in a david lynch flim around the half way point. The roar of the vocals changes when they grow harsh here but by and large the song floats off into the smoke stacked murk of a post-industrial landscape. The vocals gurgle in the distance as if they are being flushed down the sewers.

"Serpent and fire"…ebbs from ghostly static that is sung under like a transmission from another plane. The soundscape drifts over the beat to a haunting effect. The low tuned guitar barges in with its chug, that is more organic than you would expect and in most instances keeps the band from leaning towards industrial like Batillus does. With that being said there are still moments like the beat to “Telepath’ however does flirt with more electronic leanings along with the robot effect placed on the vocals, the guitar creaks in through the cracks in the paint of this portrait, effected feedback swells build but this while cool sounding is somewhat incomplete when taken as a separate song and not a piece of a large work, it would make a great intro.

“We Crush the Open Sky” has a baritone clean vocal chant layered over the beat before the metal comes crunching, it’s very Neurosis but when Neurosis doesn’t sound like Neurosis there is a void to fill. Not they are bordering on being a tribute band, since they have their own fair share of experimentation.

The drugged pound to the title track suggests monolithic opiates are slathered upon a staggering giant. It ebbs away into another low raspy Scott Kelly like melody, to their credit these are concise dirges so even though some section have a drone to them they are not dragged in excess. The harsh vocals don’t do the sonic build here any favors and seem obligatory. "Alpha omega’s" first minute there is the only blast of the drum programming that could be called black anything, the guitar doesn’t really match it in tremolo picking but gives the faster pattern room to change the transition is an odd bridge , that makes for an awkward movement relying on the sample to fill the gap. The strongest part of the song has a more sweeping cascade of a riff the vocals which come in during the last minute seem the most hones this gets a 7.5 as they can’t shake the neurosis in the vocal patterns which after repeat listens gradually distracts me from hearing their true identity.