Crowhaven’s one and only release is an enigmatic affair. Let’s start with the cover, which features some awesome wizard art that will instantly get any underground metal connoisseur interested. But that same cover also features some badly drawn flat block letters that signal this was a very small-time act on a very small budget. So already one is left wondering whether this is a lost metal gem, a hard rock outing rollicking in high fantasy themes, or some local Outsider affair by total amateurs. What happens when the needle drops? Well, things get a lil’ bit crazy.
‘Paradise’ starts with a harpsicord-via-Casio creating a somewhat atmospheric mood for a spoken-word delivery full of esoteric imagry that could come straight from Glenn Danzig’s lyrical catalog (“I look into your eyes, and something’s died, as you crawl across the floor”). It’s strange but enticing, and piques the curiosity enough to overlook the early 80s keyboard stylings and missed notes. As this intro number closes the tone changes, a deep rumble starts to grow, and then 200 pounds of TNT explode in your face as the band launches into ‘Testify’. Turns out this isn’t moody gothic music, it’s not a heavy metal inferno, and it’s not arcane fantasy rock. Instead it’s Power Chord City. The lyrics are belted out, loud and clear, testifying indeed as the band powers their way through this awesome number. What the hell?! Did these guys meet up with Victor Griffin for lessons somewhere in the Tennessee-Kentucky backwoods? Follow-ups ‘Time and Time Again’ and ‘Little Angel’ leave no doubt where this album stands. This is R-A-W-K. Not a headbanger’s ball. Not a hard rock relic. Not some backwoods buffoonery. This is about muscle shirts and muscle cars. Cheap beer and cheap women. Big engines and bigger amps. And it’s fucking marvelous! Unfortunately, Side A closes with ‘Don’t Tell Me’, which sounds like it was written to be played at every high school prom in Louisville in 1985. I guess even those drunken backyard parties held while your parents were out of town needed at least one slow dance…? Hey, every album is allowed one misfire.
The band cranked it right back up to 11 on Side B with ‘Heavy Metal Darlin’ ‘ and ‘Hero’. ‘Hero’ is worth noting because it demonstrates an important principle in the heavy metal universe: there’s a fine line between heavy and cheesy. This song SHOULD be cheesy as hell, what with lines such as “I got this feeling, that they just don’t make capes in that size” and “Guess I’ll just have to stand and watch, and buy and sell them as I eat my lunch, and be a hero”. Seriously, smoking that Kentucky bluegrass while writing lyrics there, fellas? Yet despite the lyrical, uh, oddities, the song rawks hard on the Heavy side of that all-important line. No cheese in that lunch, no sir!
But this affair wouldn’t be complete without one final twist. The last two numbers shift down into low gear and also replace the youthful bravado with lyrical themes of a jaded, bitter nature; a tale of the one that gets away and a youth long lost. ‘The Crow’ cultivates a hazy, smoke-filled barroom vibe, once again mysterious and enticing. ‘Changes’ shifts those power chords down into first gear, giving the song an almost doomy aura. Bloody hell, three songs back this band was bellowing about how “she’s a good girl at heart, ‘til the music starts”, now they’re weaving warnings that “she’ll use your soul, and on she’ll go, and you’ll wonder where you went wrong”. Whoever these guys were, it turns out they weren’t one-dimensional muscle- heads at all. These are both excellent songs and they leave the listener with more questions than answers as the needle hits the dead wax.
After all is said and done, we’re left with a rather unique album that is one of my absolute favorites among the independent full-length heavy albums from the 1980s. I don’t know how the musicians came up with this sound or this album; playing this style of music in Kentucky in 1986 was about as out of place as having Justin Bieber open for Napalm Death at the Grand Ole Oprey. I do know that I never get tired of rolling the windows down and cranking the volume up for this one. I’m a good boy at heart ‘til ‘Emotional Adjustment’ starts, and then I do go just a lil’ bit crazy. Pack a lunch folks, this one RAWKS all day long!
Originally written in German. Translate to:
Während man das massive Cardboard-Cover zart betastet, darf man ruhigen Gewissens seine Gedanken um PURPLE und ZEPPELIN kreisen lassen. Krähenfreunde CROWHAVEN, eine meiner absoluten Hardrock Lieblinge, drehen sich nun im vinylen Kreise, der Coverlümmel im Gandalf-Outfit unterstützt die geistige Abwanderung zum Herrn der Ringe und gleichsam der Noten, die sich knackig im 70er-Tumult tümpeln. Das Inkontinenzpuplikum darf sabbernd die Krücken zum verkehrten Kreuze formen, denn auch die dämonischen Vertreter der NWOBHM-Ära humpeln zwischen den Rillen umher, Anhänger der reinen Metallschmiede werden vor Schock in die Kutte urinieren, also Vorsicht mit dem Umgang des Ursprungs des Heavy Metal! Doch gerade Changes zum Abschluss zeigt ein hymnenhaftes Gebilde, dass SAVATAGE in der heutigen Form erst mal schreiben müssten, kaum zu glauben, aber diese Götterspeise mit Sirenenqualle John Oliva am Mikro hätte auf Sirens locker bestanden, wobei der vorliegende Sänger (Besetzung unbekannt) stimmlich gerade hier ein kleinerer Bruder von John sein könnte.