Review: Black Crown Initiate- Selves We Cannot Forgive

Black Crown Initiate sophomore LP, Selves We Cannot Forgive (22 July) builds upon 2012\’s The Wreckage of Stars with black-hole-dark ambition. From the start, Initiate clamors as a bellow from a catacomb. My imagination built a restless and splintered cemetery as it fell deeper and deeper into the record. Abandon all hope, ye indeed. Then the third track, “Again,” started, and this bluesy guitar splashed over this thunderous band\’s field of burnt flesh. James Dorton\’s growls began to feel like dashed pauses; singer Andy Thomas shined with Mars Volta-esque intensity. And there the record found it\’s stride. The title track was never death metal; rather, it solidified a growth in this band: tangential gloom gloom, leftover doom. Their music always builds, but this record – in opposition to their debut – begins favoring harmony over clamor. This eclectic records ends with a skeletal soundscapes of “Vicious Lives.” It is an oddly optimistic and well-produced track that tries to sound naked. There is something full-filling and polished about it and it leaves me wanting more. I look forward to more from this band. 8/10