Hooray and huzzah! Why the celebrations you may well ask. Well, for once I have a decent excuse for not having heard of a band that the editor sends me to review as it is new as opposed to one I’ve missed and will end up battering my wallet to play catch up; a rare reviewing day indeed. Bizarrely though, whilst Italy’s own Cripta Blue is pretty damn new, the sound on their eponymous first LP is anything but, and mines the rich vein of rock found in the sixties and seventies.
Growling out first from the speakers is ‘Mournin’ Pyre’, laden with fuzzy riffs and a prominent bass, the whole thing sounding like it was recorded in a single take with its rough edges and in your face take it or leave it attitude. ‘Magickal Ride’ follows with a line from amiable psychopath Tom Latham, leader of The Living Dead from cult classic movie ‘Pyschomania’, the thunderous beats of the rhythm section matching the throb of the Harley-Davidson that bike gang wished they were riding, as opposed to the 250cc roadsters the film budget actually allowed for. Hell, with the stripped back proto-metal atmosphere Cripta Blue creates you could well imagine those fictional 1973 ne’er-do-wells swigging cheap cider and rocking out to the track. ‘Tombstone’ follows with a suitably slogging pace, exploring the slower pace and deeper chords structure of early doom acts like Pentagram and Witchfinder General, two band that the this modern three piece must have on regular rotation on their stereos; even the trippy middle section just screams of an age where vinyl was cutting edge rather than hip and retro, and those who were long of hair and wide of flare sought out hidden meaning in patchouli stained and dog eared copies of the waffling prose of Aleister Crowley.
‘Creepy Eyes’ ups the pace with an opening stomping beat before the wah wah pedal gets a work out to accompany a tale of evil that could be a segment from an Amicus portmanteau such as ‘Asylum’, whilst ‘Spectral Highway’ delivers its own slice of menace with plucked dark country chords before they get their Budgie on with a barrage of power chords. ‘Death Wheelers’ revisits the doings of The Living Dead (fun fact time, whilst known as ‘Psychomania’ in its native UK elsewhere it was ‘The Death Wheelers’), and why not? Hell, if the movie was good enough to inspire Orange Goblin’s excellent ‘Suicide Division’, why shouldn’t that same movie inspire others? (NB, as I type this, I happen to be wearing a ‘Psychomania’ t-shirt, so you can probably guess my opinion of the film). The album is rounded out by ‘A Space Tale’, the psychedelic opening bringing to mind one of Hawkwind’s darker tracks before the bass declared its presence and I had to stop myself from tunelessly bellowing “Is Vic there?” Not a criticism in any way, but there is more than a hint of the Goth about this instrumental seven minute album closer.
As a first effort from a new band there is one heck of a lot to enjoy about ‘Cripta Blue’, not least the unpretentious lo-fi sound of the production, the whole thing sounding as if it was captured in a single take and any attempt to manipulate or polish the results was fended off. This of course promises that the sound could be recreated live on tour, and I know if I had the chance to catch the band, I’d certainly aim to be there, as well as offering a glimpse of future potential.
(7.5/10 Spenny)
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