(By Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker, Senior Writer/Journalist, RiffRelevant.com)
Most people do not associate Cape Town, South Africa with atmospheric black metal, but Crow Black Sky have been working towards changing that.
Since the band’s inception in 2009 they have creating some extreme, yet intriguing, psyche-tinged black metal. Now they have returned with “Sidereal Light: Volume One“, the follow-up to 2010’s Pantheion.
The eight years between the two releases seems to have been spent in the pursuit of perfecting their craft. That is the major takeaway from this latest effort and once you hear it, and having heard their earlier output, you will surely understand this statement.
With four far-reaching, atmospherical explorative compositions: “Ascendant“, “To Fathom The Stars“, “Lightless, Lifeless“, and “Veils“, Crow Black Sky seem poised to escape the confines of acceptability. The scope and magnitude of the tracks are beyond merely epic, their dark grandeur is offset only by their cosmic expressionism.
One could argue that the seemingly inhuman leap forward for Crow Black Sky, both musically and vocally, is attributable to a line up alteration after the release of Pantheion. With the exit of a bassist and two guitarists, the trio of Gideon Lamprecht (guitar, bkg. vocals), Lawrence Jaeger (drums), and Ryan Higgo (bass, vocals) were left to pick up the pieces.
But pick them up they did. Not just pick them up, they enhanced them with an unmistakable progression in several aspects. With less focus on aggressive material, the trio really stepped up their game in forward-thinking atmospherics and texturizing.
Don’t just take my word for it at face value, when you can ascertain its validity yourself. Just “turn on the light” yourself with the Bandcamp embed stream of Crow Black Sky‘s “Sidereal Light: Volume One“.
You too may become a believer. Either that or head directly to where this album is, and quite reasonably priced. Its predecessor, 2010’s aforementioned Pantheion, is also available as an NYP (Name Your Price) item at this location.
Crow Black Sky are also known to share their music as FREE downloads via their website here.
