Crippled Black Phoenix – New Dark Age – EP Review

Source // on-parole.com

Painting by numbers is an excellent way to understand the composition and structure of what we see. For the more adept you can blend the colours or paint outside of the lines for greater effect and originality but what the hell does that have to do with progressive rockers Crippled Black Phoenix we hear you cry?

Bear with us.

Echoes became one of the iconic albums from the legendary Pink Floyd – and for some generations is considered on a par with The Dark Side Of The Moon – and Crippled Black Phoenix have covered both Parts 1 and 2 of the title track for New Dark Age.

The good news. Crippled Black Phoenix have taken “Echoes” and both painted outside the lines while blending the colours, stamping their own seal on this classic in the process. The vocal harmonies are impressive, the guitar solos make a good fist of Gilmour’s moods but the question remains….should this wheel be reinvented at all?

Call us traditionalists but if you are going to deliver such an honest tribute then become a tribute band in the truest sense. If not, why tamper? Crippled Black Phoenix are more than capable of forging ahead on their path without falling back on tried and tested genre classics!

Interestingly, the style of the other two tracks on this EP are also strongly influenced by Floyd and yet have their own identity. It feels as though Crippled Black Phoenix are preferring to hide behind the classic(s) in order to support their own compositions. Which is odd, as “Spider Island” and the title track have a true 70’s prog rock feel to them and are ironically the saving grace of this hour long EP.

An interesting experience and technically excellent but their next release, if they avoid the inclusion of superflous Floyd covers, could and should be so much better. 6/10