CrAwE - PrimalStar
I am so excited to review another release from Inner Demon Records! Last time, we reviewed the excellent Fog Baptism, and this time, we are dealing with a solo act called Cr(A)wE, or just CrAWe. The album is called PrimalStar, and it was released in September 2024.
The album design comes with the iconic Inner Demons-look. Hand-stamped 3" CD-R. Art printed on heavy card stock and enclosed in a vinyl pouch with a flap. Hand-numbered and everything. I simply love the design! Almost giving the CD a sort of take-out-the-vinyl feel, the same sort of aesthetic u get with the CD releases from E.C.T Recordings.
This EP album works around a specific concept. Specifically the brightest star in the sky from Earth...Sirius. The recordings even contain subliminal radio pulse from Sirius itself! Bound to be very exciting, right!
The first track is called SiriusA(TheDogThatFollowsMountainSheep). A distant drone from the great cosmos, or the sound of a distant star. You are looking straight up into the dark sky and witnessing the bright stars on a cloudless night. The sound is incredibly immersive, and heavenly epic without the drama. Space-drone-ambient stuff for sure. The listener will get that feeling of how big things are out there in space, the track feels incredibly abysmal!
The second track DopamineForDollars-Sewa (everything is fine). Same kind of levitating sensation, the same kind of... thinking and feeling that there are other kinds of worlds out there. Some are already within us, waiting to be discovered. Immersive melodic drones done on guitar strings... sounds like a crack in the sky and the voice of several arch-angels can be heard and felt. Bit like when The Swans do these instrumental ambient tracks, just not as dark or disturbing offcourse. (and yes, that is the Sirius star below!)
The third track is called HeavenlyWolf (TheDogStarThatLeads) which is probably my absolute favorite track on this album. Finally, through the ages of space travel, we find a habitual planet! That feeling, focus on that! That is the exact feeling that is contained within this track. The moody slow-driven and archaic alien melody, swirls, rises, drops, and grows with every epic second. And yup, I am afraid of heights... I can feel it on this track! So incredibly beautiful and well-done, it truly is!
The fourth and last track Sinnesloschen (ThePathOfTheSouls) works as a black hole, a vortex that slowly sucks you back into reality... or your own dimension! A bit more of a dark and frightening track, getting that fear of the unknown vibe here.
PrimalStar is a journey worth every penny! I had no idea how much depth a tiny 3# CD-R could actually contain, the longer I listened to it the deeper it just sucked me in! And it is true. It really gives you that impression of how fascinating space really is, but also terrifying as well. Arthur C. Clarke once said :
Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying
Which is a good way of ending the review of this magnificent piece of work. My thoughts? Well, really want to get hold of the other CD-Rs with this act on Inner Demons Records! I want more of this!
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