Brighton prog-metal mavericks The Crucible show little sign of veering towards accessibility; their new single “Beyond Driven” explores deeply into heavy psychedelic territories.
And when I say psychedelic, I’m not talking Yellow bloody Submarine, either. The Crucible make a big thick sound for a three-piece that the recording doesn’t quite do justice to, but that’s more a matter of a failure of budget by contrast to ambition; subtle layers of moody effects and a veritable tsunami of cymbal wash swirl out of your speakers and swamp the midrange definition, but you can still hear the songs beneath.
And good songs they are as well, not least for the fact that The Crucible don’t follow any of the current templates. “Beyond Driven” takes the slightly creepy hallucinatory vocals of Pink Floyd and melds them with a grungy guitar sound and progressive song structure; the end result is a restless tune that never quite seems to go where you’re expecting it to - a refreshing sensation in a market of clones. The full-length version includes a big percussion wig-out in the middle as well as a sprawling intro and outro of feedback squall.
B-side “To The Lions” is a trifle more straightforward, opening up with muted motifs from the guitar and bass that wouldn’t be out of place on an Oceansize album track. In fact the entire intrumental tune nods firmly in the direction of the Manchester mob - although being blessed with half as many members, The Crucible naturally have a thinner sound. But that’s still thicker than most; as the martial and slightly discordant bludgeon of chords gives way to a clenched-teeth stoner crunch fest, you find yourself wondering what they’d sound like with an extra six-string on board.
It’d be an interesting addition, for sure, but The Crucible are working well just the way they are; “Beyond Driven” is the work of a band who aren’t playing to trends, and that alone makes them worthy of some sort of accolade. Get these guys into a decent studio for a few weeks, and we could have a new contender on the UK progressive scene; for now, I’ll settle for a live show in a convenient location so I can hear The Crucible as they really mean themselves to be heard.
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Posted in Music reviews |
Tags: Beyond Driven, metal, post-grunge, progressive, rock, The Crucible
