{"id":41516,"date":"2014-06-17T06:35:05","date_gmt":"2014-06-17T11:35:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=41516"},"modified":"2014-06-17T20:07:04","modified_gmt":"2014-06-18T01:07:04","slug":"kruk-before-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/kruk-before-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Kruk | Before<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska<\/span>
\n– Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"KrukIt\u2019s been more than a decade since the Polish band Kruk (\u2018kruk\u2019 is \u2018the raven\u2019 in English, hence a bit of ornithological terminology) left the nest and embarked on their musical journey. Throughout this flight, Kruk had their deserved share of glory supporting the likes of Deep Purple, Carlos Santana or Uriah Heep \u2013 and made their mark in the music industry with their \u201870s-inspired, guitar-oriented sound. Now, a few albums later, the band around mastermind and guitar player Piotr Brzychcy returns on the wings of their fourth authorial album Before<\/em>. And, as it turns out, being here for the fourth time around Kruk is at the peak of their creative powers.<\/p>\n

The first song \u201cMy Sinners\u201d opens with a dynamic dialogue between the Hammond organ and the guitar. If anyone up to this point had been thinking Kruk were going to abandon their \u201870s-infused hard rock style in favor of anything else, a monumental, guitar laden opener should have proven this way of thinking wrong. At times, this epic track may remind one of the late \u201870s era Rainbow (especially the slightly Dio-esque vocal manner of Roman Kantoch, the band\u2019s current singer, as well as the blistering guitar solo). Towards the end, some distant echoes of Deep Purple\u2019s trademark sound are also to be heard. <\/p>\n

\u201cLast Second\u201d is a fast-paced hard rock piece which one somewhat hesitates to label \u201cradio friendly\u201d \u2013 and yet, there is some certainly catchy vibe to it. The dynamic track ends with an instrumental coda, a real showcase of the extraordinary skill and musical feeling the band\u2019s guitarist Piotr Brzychcy possesses. After this breakneck guitar gallop, there\u2019s somewhat melancholic \u201cOnce\u201d preceding a melodic mid-tempo \u201cWings Of Dreams\u201d enriched with a Purple-esque Hammond outro. Kruk gets a bit bluesy in the uptempo \u201cGrey Leaf\u201d and gives exposure to the driving power of the low bass thrum in \u201cMy Morning Star.\u201d <\/p>\n

A moment of reprieve comes with \u201cFarewell,\u201d a beautiful, moving ballad with a surprisingly dynamic instrumental interlude towards the end. This certain highlight of the entire material is followed by the fast-paced, feisty \u201cOpen Road\u201d (which was the first of the new tracks revealed by the band before the album\u2019s release) and \u201cTimeline.\u201d The latter, being the instrumental, half-acoustic, half-plugged piece, is one of these rare occasions when the music itself does the talking \u2013 and the tale it tells is simply stunning. The icing on the cake \u2013 and a little curiosity for the foreign listeners \u2013 are the Polish versions of \u201cFarewell\u201d (\u201cMoja Dusza\u201d) and \u201cGrey Leaf\u201d (Szary Li\u015b\u0107\u201d), both included on the album. <\/p>\n

Before<\/em> was also enhanced by the addition of the bonus DVD \u2013 not only a certain treat for the band\u2019s avid fans, but also a teaser for those not too familiar with them. Especially that the material included on this DVD is the footage of Kruk live in concert (February 2014, Spodek Hall, Katowice \u2013 as a support act for Deep Purple). \u201cAre you ready for rock\u2019n\u2019roll\u2026?\u201d is the question asked as the concert starts – and, as the adage goes, rock ‘n’ roll is what the audience came there for and rock ‘n’ roll is what they got (long before that night\u2019s headliner hit the stage!) That night, on Feb. 15, 2014, Kruk presented a cross-section of their earlier material, from the dynamic \u201cNow When You Cry\u201d (of their 2011 album It Will Not Come Back<\/em>) to guitar laden \u201cKameleon\u201d (of their debut album). And although most of the audience gathered in Spodek Hall that night actually came there to see Deep Purple and not their support act, their standing ovation towards the end of the Kruk\u2019s gig speaks volumes, doesn\u2019t it? For those interested in Piotr Brzychcy\u2019s guitar technique, there are some acoustic improvisations and studio footage included on the DVD too \u2013 as well as the interviews with the band members, so as to know the guys behind Kruk a little bit better.<\/p>\n

Kruk\u2019s Before<\/em> \u2013 which can be also spelled with a twist, as Be4ore \u2013 is the fourth album with the original material the band\u2019s ever released and, most probably, their best to date. It pictures Kruk as a mature and experienced band who don\u2019t have to struggle for their musical identity anymore \u2013 but also a band aware of their roots and inspirations, always eager to incorporate the echoes of their influences into their own material. Such approach, combined with musical adeptness and proficiency, results in an album one intuitively puts between the Deep Purple and Rainbow classic releases in their record collection. And although it\u2019s the fans of the aforementioned rock giants should certainly dig Before<\/em> because of its rootsy, classic hard rock inclinations, the listeners of other guitar-oriented genres may also find the flight on raven wings of Kruk enjoyable. To put it simple, Before is a very solid album altogether, and one that\u2019s highly recommended. Check it out and fly high! <\/p>\n

Genre: Hard Rock<\/p>\n

Band:
\nPiotr Brzychcy \u2013 guitars
\nRoman Kantoch \u2013 vocals
\nMichal Kurys \u2013 Hammond, piano and synthesizer
\nKrzysztof Nowak \u2013 bass guitar
\nDariusz Nawara \u2013 drums
\nEwa Toczkowska-Brzychcy \u2013 additional vocals (track 1, 3)<\/p>\n

Track List:
\n1.\tMy Sinners
\n2.\tLast Second
\n3.\tOnce
\n4.\tWings Of Dreams
\n5.\tGrey Leaf
\n6.\tMy Morning Star
\n7.\tFarewell
\n8.\tOpen Road
\n9.\tTimeline
\n10.\tMoja Dusza (bonus track)
\n11.\tSzary Lisc (bonus track)<\/p>\n

Label: Metal Mind Productions<\/p>\n

Website: www.kruk.art.pl<\/a> – https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KrukPL<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8.5\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska – Columnist — It\u2019s been more than a decade since the Polish band Kruk (\u2018kruk\u2019 is \u2018the raven\u2019 in English, hence a bit of ornithological terminology) left the nest and embarked on […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":41530,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[9436,2317,1103,9435,5955],"class_list":{"0":"post-41516","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-before","9":"tag-cd-review","10":"tag-hard-rock","11":"tag-kruk","12":"tag-metal-mind-productions"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41516\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}