Band:	Johnny The Boy
Album:	You
Style:	Post black metal, Sludge metal
Release date:	June 2023

01. Die Already
02. Grime
03. He Moves
04. Endlessly Senseless
05. Crossings
06. Druh
07. Wired
08. Without You

Though Crippled Black Phoenix have had touches of metal in their music, enough for us to include them on our website, they remained firmly a non-metal band, albeit one that's a bit hard to categorize. It is those metal elements that take center stage on this Johnny The Boy side-project.

I'm not sure for how long Johnny The Boy has been a thing, since this is their debut but there has been a demo released back in 2018, in which the Bandcamp page weirdly has both the cover art including the "Johnny The Boy" name, but the credits say "World War on this recording are" before listing the exact members that are also on this Johnny The Boy album. Regardless, a quick look at the demo should ring a bell for people that remember Crippled Black Phoenix's latest album, an album I already covered. Even with the more post-metal-ish moments on Crippled Black Phoenix's past albums, none compare to the closing bonus track on Banefyre, as "No Regrets" exploded as a sludge metal song with harsh vocals in complete contrast with the progressive gothic artsy post-rock that preceded it. And, wouldn't you know it, the demo I mentioned has a track called "No Regrets". And a couple of months after Banefyre we have an album in a very similar style.

So, to clarify the connection, Johnny The Boy is Belinda Kordic on vocals, Justin Greaves on guitars and drums, Matt Crawford on bass, all of which are also Crippled Black Phoenix members, Justin especially being a founding member. The prospect of Crippled Black Phoenix going full metal is exciting in itself, which explains why that bonus track was my most memorable moment of their latest album, and having the album at a bite-sized 40 minutes is a stark contrast with the huge Banefyre. And there's a lot different in the sound as well, besides just going heavier and more distorted. You'd expect the sludge here to lie more on the atmospheric side closer to post-metal, but a lot of it is the more vitriolic d-beat/crust punk-inspired style, with Kordic's vocals being especially full of venom with a strong blackened edge. There's a tangible energy that reminds of an even livelier Iron Monkey, which Greaves has been a drummer for. The bass and guitars both create a fuzzy sound that feels especially crushing in the faster paces.

But there are also moments that do feel like they make the connection to the original band clear. The more post-inspired atmospheres of "He Moves" or the bluesy balladry of "Without You" sound like a mix of the two bands, eluding the aforementioned punky sludge for something more akin to post-black metal in its more metal sections, while also having Kordic's vocals move to cleaner territories, either in ethereal chants or a more bluesy kind of black metal rasp. The album itself starts with a spoken word section that just screams "Crippled Black Phoenix" (not literally). There are moments that feel a bit disjointed as a result, but a lot of what makes this record interesting lies in how it merges and contrasts the two and how the closer especially mirrors the closer on Banefyre in a "this is what our other band sounds like" way.

I'm curious how I would have perceived You if I wasn't aware of Johnny The Boy's side-project-ness, but for what it is, it's a nice contrast to and integration of the original band's sound into much wilder territories, and a welcome change of pace.