Captain Crimson is a Swedish rock band formed in 2010 by Stefan Norén (lead singer of the stoner rock band, Blowback). The band draws their inspiration from classic sixties and seventies bands such as Blue Cheer, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Captain Beyond, Jethro Tull and Cactus. Their first album, ‘Dancing Madly Backwards’ was released in August 2012. Later that year they played a European tour in support of the album.
At the beginning of 2013, Chris David (ReinXeed) joined them on bass, ensuring Captain Crimson an even tighter rhythm section. The band line-up now consists of Stefan Norén (vocals and guitar), Andreas Eriksson (lead guitar), Mikael Läth (drums) and Chris David (bass). They also embarked on a second European tour before starting recording their second album, ‘Ageless Time’ (2015).
Mikael Läth stated “For the new record, we all drew inspiration from our common musical sources as well as from new influences. I for example took a lot of my inspiration from all sorts of jazz and Chris was inspired by heavy metal. So there are a lot of new and exciting things to discover on our new record.” The album was recorded live in a chapel (Svartå, Sweden) together with their sound engineer, producer and close friend Joakim Frisö.
The nearest sound and style description is most likely to be psychedelic heavy blues mixed with groove rock. There is plenty of swagger in ‘Rubicon’ with its lumbering main riff and thunderous rhythms giving space for lighter touches of jazz/blues guitar. Then they increase the tempo for ‘A Trip Beyond The Universe’. “Take a trip beyond the universe / landing on the star / Let’s dance beyond the universe / Faster you will go / Escape from the real world / It’s a price that you must pay / Life is not forever / Madly dance away”.
There is a gently plucked intro to ‘(Shadows of the) Golden Hills’ before a burst of histrionics. It settles into a slower groove as they meander through blues territory and finally take it to Hendrix heaviness. Then ‘Silence’ takes a more thoughtful and melodic route with a soothing arrangement which builds towards a crescendo of guitar shredding.
After an atmospheric ending, its back to battering down your door with ‘Ageless Time’. Then there is the insistent groove of ‘Deep Blue’ with hooks that could snare a Brontosaurus. There is a more jagged riff with a staccato rhythm in ‘Demons Night’ before the more commercial sounding ballad of ‘Maze Of No Trust’. Finally they take you to meet the enigmatic ‘Mr. Hollow Green’ which soars with epic riffage.
Rating: 7.5/10
Reviewed by Peter John Willoughby
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