Toegegeven, ik verkies originele nummers boven covers. Tenzij die cover een 80's banger is die in een gevoelige versie wordt gebracht. Zeker als daarbij de veel diepgaander dan verwachte lyrics op de voorgrond worden gezet. Dat is precies wat Crippled Black Phoenix doet met hun versie van Self Control van Laura Branigan. Een meezinger die je ongetwijfeld kent, maar waarschijnlijk nog nooit écht naar hebt geluisterd.
I, I live among the creatures of the night
I haven't got the will to try and fight
Against a new tomorrow, so I guess I'll just believe it
That tomorrow never comes
Geen tekst die je zou linken aan een poppy song waar de vorige generatie op stond te swingen. Maar net daardoor was mijn verrassing des te groter toen ik de rauwe uitvoering van Belinda Kordic en Justin Greaves hoorde.
Het dubbelalbum The Wolf Changes Its Fur But Not Its Nature en Horrific Honorifics Number Two komt uit op 29 november via Season of Mist.
Info
In this era of relentless superficiality, CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX stand as a beacon for those broken by an indifferent world. This latest masterpiece, Self Control, extracts the haunting essence of Branigan’s classic and weaves it into a poignant tapestry of raw emotion and relentless defiance. With the ever-captivating Belinda Kordic giving voice to our shared darkness, Justin Greaves and his band of rebels breathe new life into a song that resonates with the tortured soul of the modern age.
The thread that binds CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX’s bold and towering discography — a dozen studio albums, a half-dozen mini-albums, a handful of compilations and swaths of bootlegs — could not be more apropos circa 2022. Since its 2004 creation by multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Justin Greaves, CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX has served as the voice for the voiceless, whether it be animals, the unequal and the different. Greaves and longstanding vocalist and lyricist Belinda Kordic have often proffered that these beings cannot fend for themselves. Henceforth, CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX’s mission has been to shed light on the human condition and the inequalities that befall humankind and its creatures. Their battle marches on with their latest studio album, Banefyre.
Banefyre follows 2020’s Ellengæst — an effort that found CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX employ a series of notable guest vocalists alongside Kordic, prompting Metal Hammer to describe it as their “most cohesive and emotionally devastating record.” Kordic is now paired with Swedish vocalist Joel Segerstedt, who made his CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX debut last year via the “Painful Reminder/Dead is Dead” single. Piano, synth and trumpet player Helen Stanley and additional guitarist Andy Taylor complete the lineup. Greaves says Stanley and Taylor “fit so well creatively,” which has made CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX feel like a band when making plans and decisions.
