ALBUM REVIEW: The Wolf Changes Its Fur But Not Its Nature – Crippled Black Phoenix
One of the most prolific, creative and visceral progressive bands out there, CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX are a band that have defied genre labels and tackled the world’s most brutal subjects for the last twenty years. They have also become voice for the voiceless, whether it be animals, the unequal and the different – and are avid activists for multiple causes outside of their music. Founded by multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Justin Greaves (formerly ELECTRIC WIZARD, TEETH OF LIONS RULE THE DIVINE) in 2004, the band are celebrating 20 years of making music with a double album of rerecorded songs and covers that have inspired them through the years. The first part, The Wolf Changes Its Fur But Not Its Nature – the second part Horrific Honorifics Number Two(2) is coming later in November – sees the band delve deep into their rich and expansive back catalogue and breathe new life into some of their hardest hitting songs.
The Wolf Changes Its Fur But Not Its Nature consists of an incredibly varied selection of songs from the band’s past, and captures CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX’s ethos over the last two decades of constantly finding ways to innovate on every album. With songs going back as far as 2007s Goodnight Europe getting a new lease of life, Greaves, Belinda Kordic (vocals, percussions) and the duo’s army of collaborators and guest musicians have essentially created a whole new album – in true CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX fashion. As with all the band’s albums, you have to approach it with an open mind and be prepared to have your perceptions on the various subject matter challenged. The Wolf Changes Its Fur But Not Its Nature is deeply atmospheric but viscerally though provoking, and it goes to show that we can learn from the past and reinterpret it for a new audience.
Like all CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX albums, it ebbs and flows with moments of eerie softness and moments of devastating heaviness, Greaves and Kordic’s unique, eccentric and experimental approach to songwriting and attention to aesthetic is truly on show in this celebratory album of the band’s history. With that in mind, CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX have truly spoiled us with the songs that they have selected for The Wolf Changes Its Fur But Not Its Nature.
The songs that have been rerecorded start from the band’s first release A Love of Shared Disasters in 2007 right up to Ellengæst in 2020. If the original songs were the battered bindings of an old book, CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX have removed them shelf and given them a brand new bindings with gilt edges and embossed patterns. While it states that they’ve been rerecorded, there is without a doubt some parts that have been added and stripped away, almost rewritten in some cases. This has undoubtedly been achieved with the continual evolvement of the band’s songwriting, the maturity of their years and a new perspective gained from the current state of the world. While this is a celebration of the band’s success over the last two decades, it is also a reminder of a band that have stood steadfast to their beliefs and compromised for no one.
The album opens up with the howls of wolves and sinister laughter of We Forgotten Who We Are – which is rather apt considering the album’s title. It starts of slow and solemn, before building up into a melancholic and heavy track that sets the tone for the album. You get a sense of pathetic fallacy if you’re listening on a cold, autumnal day, as the message of the track is a powerful one. You Put the Devil in Me follows and is one of those songs where the music is far more upbeat than the lyrics yet it is finished with a defiant message about never falling under the weight of life. 444 dispatches an ruthless anti-religion message with tense heavy passages and a variety of textures and tones coming from instruments such as piano, synth, guitar and vocals, there is a real intensity to this song that puts you on edge.
Goodnight Europe is a sorrowful, slow and harrowing song that feels like a song for the end of the world. Haunting vocals and somber pianos make you stop and think about the state of the world. Following on from interlude track (-), Song for the Unloved is without a doubt the highlight of the album. A 14 minute, cinematic masterpiece that perfectly encapsulates CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX and their unique approach to songwriting. Whissendine and Blizzard Of Horned Cats close out the album with rich, dynamic atmospheres and soul crushing riffs, culminating with hellfire and static at the end of Blizzard Of Horned Cats.
The Wolf Changes Its Fur But Not Its Nature is the perfect celebration of CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX’s music over the last two decades. Visceral, proactive and atmospheric, this is a powerful compilation of the band’s best tracks with an up to date twist.
Rating: 8/10
The Wolf Changes Its Fur But Not Its Nature is set for release on 8th November via Season Of Mist.
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