As anyone who knows The Cluny is aware the venues stage can comfortably accommodate a standard 4/5 piece band, 6 at a push depending on the setup. Anyone who knows Crippled Black Phoenix, and that's the bulk of tonight's crowd of course, also knows they are far from a standard band and number eight (usually). I counted eight tonight, or seven, maybe, it's hard to tell as it's a bloody tight squeeze up there! People and instruments are cramped together and meld into one!
But it doesn't appear to hinder them as they launch into their own unique mix of prog-cum-post-rock. Drawing mostly from new album 'I, Vigilante' and 2009's '200 Tons of Bad Luck' CBP immediately hit their groove and conjur up a succession of heavy and melodic tunes which ebb and flow as they drive forward. Amply sized songs like the lurching, unsettling 'Troublemaker' or the dreamy epic that is 'Burnt Reynolds' rub glacial paced shoulders with each other, brittle but immensely solid - the sound you'd imagine from musical granite.
The crowd is good (healthy) not huge, but CBP receive enthusiastic and justified applause each time one of these mini-epics reaches a natural conclusion and commence another and when 'Rise Up and Fight' beats out its tribal rhythms, lead by Joe Volk's emotive vocals and a series of strident, drum figures, guitar riffs and embellishing synth swirls, the venue becomes awash in a maelstrom aural nuances making for an unbelievably immersive listen. It's this atmosphere which lingers on throughout their set.
Beautifully realised music from a talented group deserving of more attention.
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