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Anteater · 07-12-2013, 04:47 PM

The next three years after the debut would get quite busy for Crimson Glory. Tours overseas through most of Europe with Anthrax, Metallica and Metal Church, combined with more mainstream attention from magazines, TV and radio was a whole lot for any new band to handle. However, all the touring and newfound attention ultimately proved positive: the band's self image was bolstered and the desire to make even greater music intensified severely: the stage was set for an even better record than their first. That record, Transcendence, would be recorded and subsequently released in November of '88. With it would come a hit single in the form of 'Lonely' and even more attention, which would result in huge tours with Ozzy Osbourne and fellow progressive metal pioneers Queensrÿche. By 1990, they were doing venues of thousands, the largest being a premiere performance at Germany's Metal Hammer Festival for over 20,000+. All, it seemed, was very well. But by 1991...well, I'll get to that in the next post.

Thus, let's take a look at Crimson Glory's most lauded record, and a classic of first wave progressive metal. Ladies and gents....Transcendence!

Crimson Glory – Transcendence (1988)

1. Lady Of Winter (4:00)
2. Red Sharks (4:49)
3. Painted Skies (5:13)
4. Masque Of The Red Death (4:13)
5. In Dark Places (6:58)
6. Where Dragons Rule (5:05)
7. Lonely (5:17)
8. Burning Bridges (6:29)
9. Eternal World (3:51)
10. Transcendence (4:31)

This sophomore recording marks Crimson Glory's ascension to the realms of classic heavy metal, and even a cursory listen makes it easy to see why people hold this up alongside any of Iron Maiden or the Big Four's output from the same period: the mixing and overall atmosphere is gorgeous, the interplay between the harmonizing guitars and rhythm section were tighter than they had ever been...and hell, even Midnight's already distinctive vocals have taken on a more confident approach with the new songs. Listen to how the rest of the band harmonizes with him on radio-smash 'Lonely' or the tremolo picked 'Painted Skies': this is the sort of stuff people get into heavy metal for in the first place.

That being said, besides everything being a couple of steps up from the self-titled, this album's swagger covers surprisingly diverse ground: for starters, you have the especially stomping, Poe-inspired 'Masque Of The Red Death' and the percussive, almost militaristic power metal of 'Where Dragons Rule', kept anchored & raging by Midnight's croon. Secondly, there's nary a moment where something interesting unusual or progressive isn't going on in the rhythm sections or the songs themselves, such as album centerpiece 'In Dark Places', a venomous near-7 minute anthem that would later prove to be a live favorite. "In dark places we will be, forever beyond the light": tight!

My favorite of the ten songs here though is probably the closing title track, where Midnight's voice, an acoustic guitar and some scary sounding synths set up this hopeful yet strangely menacing bit of imagery as the last sounds fade away...

Quote:

Try to find your sky,
Your world within yourself.
In death I've found the answer.
In death I've found the answer.
In death I live again.

Fear not the reaper's blade,
It does not mean the end.
It never really ends...

A bit spooky, no?

From my perspective, what makes Transcendence not only a top-notch progressive metal release, but also just a damn fine heavy metal album is general, is that it brings some of those unconventional chord structures and progressions which Fates Warning and Watchtower were known for back in the late 80's, but also draws upon the great fantasy imagery of CG's NWOBHM influences (and power metal contemporaries), subsequently mixing up these various traits with the heavier thrash sound pioneered by Megadeth, Metallica and Testament. This is no simple synthesis to pull off, and yet Transcendence makes it sound like it was the easiest thing in the world to accomplish. In other words, this is a case where the various matrices of the music's DNA are so well integrated into a core sound that the listener will be hard pressed to find any of the inconsistencies that sometimes arise when a band labors to do too many things at once.

Still, no matter how good a metal record is, great music like this still a tough sell for anyone who doesn't dig the genre (or possesses the capacity to enjoy it on its own merits) to begin with, which is unfortunate. Many people are so caught up in whether or not the music they listen to is lyrically relevant to their bland, boring lives that they forget that music isn't always about connecting with you emotionally: sometimes what makes music interesting or special is how it transports your mind (and perhaps your soul) to venues and places that you'd otherwise never go yourself. This record, ladies and gents, can do that for anyone who gives it an honest-to-God opportunity to do so.

Additionally, Transcendence is fascinating even in its lyrical content at times: amidst all the swords and magic and dragons, there's some real classy dialogue going on here about what it really means to rise above your mundane, day-to-day existence: some people think the answer lies in the manner of your death (understanding your own unique and inevitable doom as it were), while other people think the answer lies in arcane knowledge that others don't possess, finding patterns in the movements of the stars: perhaps even the Earth itself holds the means to determining one's purpose. And yet no matter what you believe in, death is going to find you anyway. The question is, are you someone who can reconcile with what may lie beyond...or not?

All in all, a fascinating album that stands at the peak of CG's output. And yet, interesting things were still to come....(TBC)