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Karyn Crisis' Gospel Of The Witches - Covenant review



Reviewer:
N/A

7 users:
7.86
Band: Karyn Crisis' Gospel Of The Witches
Album: Covenant
Release date: November 2019


01. Womb Of The World
02. Drawing Down The Moon
03. Stretto Di Barba
04. Silver Valley
05. Great Mothers
06. Benevento
07. Dea Iside
08. Janara
09. The Hours
10. Diana Mellificia
11. Circle Of White Light
12. Blood Of The Mother

Goth witches, female fronted doom and ex- Ephel Duath members. Count me in!

Karyn Crisis' Gospel Of The Witches is basically almost the same Ephel Duath lineup (with another drummer) that released Hemmed By Light, Shaped By Darkness, an album admittedly not that well received by us. Thankfully, this is not an Ephel Duath album, as much as Karyn Crisis' Gospel Of The Witches is a continuation of that. With a slimmer lineup than the one that released the debut, 2015's Salem's Wounds, Davide Tiso and Karyn Crisis finally made a great album together.

When I first found out about this album, looking at the title and the cover art I thought it would be just another of those slightly gothic occult female fronted doom metal or psychedelic rock. And then I found out the connection that Karyn, and then by extension Davide, have with Ephel Duath, and then I realized that Karyn has been making music since before I was born, with her namesake band Crisis. So I guess I shouldn't have been that quick to judge, but by the time that I found out this background info, I had already heard the album and was won by the music anyway. So let's talk about the music. Obviously there are great similarities with Ephel Duath, especially the last album, but a lot of the most poignant avant-garde and progressive elements seem to have been already spared for Davide Tiso's work with Howling Sycamore, leaving Covenant to focus on being dark and brooding.

It is on this album that it is clear that Karyn Crisis' Gospel Of The Witches finally finds their own sound and makes it concise and precise enough to be more worthwhile and less meandering than their debut. In these four years, they managed to write music that is more focused and organic. With sporadic harsh vocals to remind us of past works from the duo, a lot more emphasis is placed on the clean vocals, which in themselves seem to be a pretty acquired taste, thus I wouldn't find it surprising if the overly nasal sound wouldn't click with everyone. But there is something really authentic with her original take on gothic witch-like music, so even stripped of Ephel Duath's avant-garde sound, the band manages to still be outside of the box. And it makes it even more undoubtedly authentic that Karyn Crisis actually wrote a book about witchcraft in Italy.

More concise and focused than previous records, Covenant is undoubtedly the best album that the duo produces together, but even so I feel closer to appreciating the work of this album than actually enjoying it. Something about this album doesn't feel as immersive as it should be, whether it be the production, her vocals not feeling like they are in sync enough with the instrumentation, her clean vocal tone, the flow of the album, or maybe I've come to expect certain things from dark gothic music that I just don't find on this album. Maybe I should look for something else in it.






Written on 25.11.2019 by Doesn't matter that much to me if you agree with me, as long as you checked the album out.


Comments

Comments: 4   Visited by: 36 users
26.11.2019 - 00:44
Lanthros

You really didn't know about Karyn before this band?
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26.11.2019 - 07:34
RaduP
CertifiedHipster
Written by Lanthros on 26.11.2019 at 00:44

You really didn't know about Karyn before this band?

Shame on me
----
Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking
One day there will be no heart at all?
Loading...
26.11.2019 - 11:24
Lanthros

Written by RaduP on 26.11.2019 at 07:34

Written by Lanthros on 26.11.2019 at 00:44

You really didn't know about Karyn before this band?

Shame on me

I wouldn't say that. It's just kind if surprising. She was a pretty big name in the 90s because of Crisis.
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26.11.2019 - 12:17
RaduP
CertifiedHipster
Written by Lanthros on 26.11.2019 at 11:24

I wouldn't say that. It's just kind if surprising. She was a pretty big name in the 90s because of Crisis.

Which I also never heard of before now
----
Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking
One day there will be no heart at all?
Loading...

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