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| KRUX - II LP | |
HRR 221, limited to 1000 copies, 100 x "halloween orange" vinyl, 500 x "blood-red" vinyl + 400 x black vinyl, 425gsm heavy gatefold cover, cardboard insert | |
| Leif Edling - Bass Peter Stjärnvind - Drums Jörgen Sandström - Guitars Fredrik Åkesson - Guitars Mats Levén - Vocals Carl Westholm - Keyboards | |
| -Devil Sun -Serpent -Sea of Doom -Lex Lucifero -Pirates of the Black Hand -Depressive Strokes of Indigo -Too Close to Evil -The Big Empty | |
SOLD OUT! | |
Leif Edling is a legend in his own right! The grandmaster of Doom!
He's not only the father of one of the greatest Doom bands of all time, namely Candlemass (and their predecessors Nemesis), but has also started several rather interesting side projects. One was Abstrakt Algebra.
And the other one is Krux. Now Krux is probably a bit more well-known than Abstrakt Algebra. Leif Edling formed the band in 2002. Stylistically, Leif thinks Krux is closer to Candlemass than Nemesis: “Since Nemesis was something I did over 25 years ago, it's quite obvious that Krux is closer to Candlemass than my first band that was formed when I was still in school. But to me Krux and Candlemass are two very different bands.”
High Roller Records is proud to re-release the second Krux album on vinyl. “Krux II” was originally issued on CD in 2006. The line up recording the album was the same as for the debut “Krux I”, namely: Mats Levén (vocals), Leif Edling (bass), Jörgen Sandström (guitars), Peter Stjärnvind (drums) and Carl Westholm (keyboards).
When it came out, “Krux II” received enthusiastic reactions from fans and media alike. Leif Edling confirms: “We got great reviews and I think that 'Krux II' cemented our status as a really good band. 'Krux II' is more dirty and raw than the other two releases. 'Krux I' and 'Krux III' are also a bit more progressive than our second album. I think with the keyboards we went for a 1970’s analog feel. Carl always does a good job and here on 'Krux II' I think the keyboards are really thrilling!”
Albeit featuring the same line up as the first album, according to Leif Edling “Krux II” was more difficult to record: “We didn’t have time to rehearse, so we had to record it totally without any rehearsals. We also mixed the album in a barn, and maybe that’s the reason why it turned out like it did. I love the songs on the album, but I’ve had a tough time listening to it. So it’s extremely satisfying to see it getting released again on vinyl and with a good sound!”
The variety of the songwriting on “Krux II” is quite astonishing, to say the least. The album kicks off with “Serpent”, quite an uptempo opener. Leif Edling comments: “It’s a great track and the perfect opener for the album. In live situations we often open with this cool song.” "Devil Sun" on the other hand might be the slowest and heaviest song on “Krux II”. Leif thinks so too: “Yeah … it’s pretty slow. Last weekend we played it live and it was slower than ever! Great ending of the song … very epic!” And "Sea of Doom" is psychedlic Doom so to say … “That’s one of my all-time fave tracks”, reveals Mister Edling. “I love it as a studio version, and I just love to play it live! That song has got everything! Another fave track of mine is 'Depressive Strokes of Indigo'. It has got several colours in it … and the live versions we do of it are great! It often ends the show.”
Although at first glance it seems a bit far fetched, some people have compared the overall feel of “Krux II” to Black Sabbath's "Headless Cross" album. Leif Edling, the ardent Black Sabbath fan and collector, does not think this comparism is way off the mark and takes it as a huge compliment: “I have never heard this or thought of it myself. 'Headless Cross' is a fantastic album, and I don’t think we’re even close with 'Krux II'. It’s a good album though … for what it is … underground Doom or what the hell you wanna call it.”
Matthias Mader