Emancipation is an important step in any kind of development, be it development of the personal or the professional kind. If your ideas about life, work and music differ from those of the other individuals involved in your project, if you are feeling like you are only executing someone else’s ideas, if constant compromises leave you unsatisfied, sooner or later you will have to try to do your own thing in order to move forward.

Somewhere along those lines might lie the reasons for why in 2019 several members of Crippled Black Phoenix, grouped around vocalist and guitarist Daniel Änghede, left their original band and started a new project. They found some like-minded people, formed a British-Swedish six piece and named themselves Venus Principle. Today, three years later, they are releasing their debut album Stand in Your Light.

Given the band’s history, a comparison of the old project with the new one is unescapable. Interestingly, it doesn’t seem like the band would be running from that comparison – on the contrary. Although they parted ways with CBP, their allegiance and chosen form of expression still lies in the field of dark, progressive rock. It looks like Venus Principle are positioning themselves to be another presence in that field. Judging from their debut album, they might succeed. Their “hymns for the burdened and broken” are not simply copies of their former band’s compositions, the album’s eleven songs have their own character.

The most dominant influence in their music is audibly psychedelic rock from the 70s. This is evident in almost every track. Yet many guitar passages also display a love of metal, and there are hints of blues and folk to be heard as well. Clean vocals, both male and female, complete the bitter-sweet melodies. If you prefer descriptions that mentions other, well-known bands, I can offer you this: Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac and a bit of Katatonia.

Although it seems like every band member was encouraged to contribute music of their own liking to the compositions and although the album offers quite a diverse mixture, all of the album’s songs have one thing in common, they are permeated by a deep melancholia. Sometimes it is darkened and enhanced by a droning bass, sometimes slow, dragging tempos allude to doom, but since shadows cannot exist without light, there are also moments of hope and warmth.

My two favourite songs from Stand in Your Light are The Lord He Giveth and He Taketh Away and Shut It Down, both featuring major contributions by British singer/song writer Daisy Chapman. The Lord He Giveth and He Taketh Away goes from the minimalism of piano and vocals to dramatic grandiosity and back again, while Shut It Down is simultaneously woeful and uplifting, with goose-bumps-inducing harmonies and credible sentiment.

At times a tad too slow, Stand in Your Light might have profited from a bit of stringency, but fans of dark rock will enjoy the album regardless of it taking its time. There are great ideas, ear-catching concepts and a lot of talent on display here. A very good beginning.

(7.5/10 Slavica)

https://www.facebook.com/venusprinciple

https://venusprinciple.bandcamp.com/album/stand-in-your-light