Krux: Krux III: He Who Sleeps Amongst the Stars (2011)
No one would mistake the bare-bones artwork seen on Krux's first two albums for compelling eye-candy, but did the Swedish doom supergroup have to redress the balance with the orgiastic rainbow explosion used on their third?
Lucky for Krux, I wrote in the All-Music Guide, my review would focus on the music, not the eyesore cover of 2011's Krux III: He Who Lives Amongst the Stars; then I proceeded to denigrate said music for falling short of those first two efforts.
Well, distance obviously makes the heart grow fonder, because I thoroughly enjoyed my reacquaintance with this swan song from the since disbanded Krux, which still stands as my favorite side project helmed by Candlemass bassist and songwriter Leif Edling.
Looking back at the talent involved, it's easy to see why: Mats Levén (Abstrakt Algebra, Candlemass, Yngwie J. Malmsteen, etc.) on vocals, Fredrik Åkesson (Arch Enemy, Opeth, etc.) and Jörgen Sandström (Entombed, Grave, etc.) on guitars, Per Wiberg (Opeth, Spiritual Beggars, etc.), on keyboards, and Peter Stjärnvind (Entombed, Nifelheim, etc.) on drums.
Together, this wrecking crew helps make Edling's wildest doom dreams come true, as he seeks to move beyond the style's solemn dogma with a healthy injection of progressive and psychedelic sounds, topped by a mixture of sinister and fantastical lyrics.
To that end, it's Levén, Wiberg, and Åkesson who deserve special credit for their contributions, so I'll highlight some of these, in turn ...
First up, the versatile Levén, who growls like Cookie Monster at the end of "The Hades Assembly," caws like a crow midway through "Emily Payne (And the Black Maze)," and recalls underrated Black Sabbath stand-in Tony Martin on "Small Deadly Curses."
Second, Wiberg, who enlivens the galloping title track with his swirling, outer-space synths, adds churchy organs to "Emily Payne," and drapes atmospheric sound effects behind the colorfully-named ten-minute epic, "Prince Azaar and the Invisible Pagoda."
And third, Åkesson, who haunts the latter track's mid-section with both ghostly arpeggios and white-hot lead runs (these also save the otherwise dull "The Death Farm"), and then unleashes exquisitely emotional guitar solos on "The Hades Assembly" and the album's majestic closer "A Place of Crows."
In fact, I think it's pretty safe to say that Åkesson's command performance on this LP unofficially sealed whatever audition process he had to undergo (if any) to officially join Opeth that same year.
Whether it was his departure or my unfairly negative review (yeah right!) that convinced Edling to shut down Krux, I cannot say, but I heartily recommend the group's first, second, and now also their third LP (crap cover art and all) to all doom lovers.
More Krux: Krux II; plus Candlemass: Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, Nightfall, Ancient Dreams, Tales of Creation, Live, Candlemass.
