Crucifer is a fantastic recent discovery, that gives us hope we have still yet to exhaust the possibilities of the era. The music is the type of heavy prog we associate 1973 with - with Hammond, Mellotron, flute, woody bass, psychedelic electric guitar, and impassioned vocals. What you wouldn't necessarily associate with is the country: France. I've read comparisons to bands such as Sandrose and Ergo Sum, and while that isn't wrong by any stretch, the music on display here is far more complex and less rooted in the psychedelic era. What Première Heure brings is exactly what we have come to expect from Italy - minus the home language. A creativity with no boundaries. Music like this tends to grow in stature with every listen, and I expect the same here. And the sound quality is excellent - perhaps a couple of weeks away from going to production, but this is far better than your usual archival garage tape find. If looking for an archival comparison, perhaps Satan is a good match, though Crucifer is less detached from the familiar French theatrics.
French archival albums such as this use to be the sole provenance of Musea in the 1990s. Recently it's been Monster Melodies that have taken the reign. Given the lack of details with the release (see above), one wishes that perhaps they had been involved, as consultants if nothing else. Despite this, it's the music that truly counts, and on this front Crucifer is all aces. Not to be missed.
Ownership: LP: 2017 Cameleon. Recent online acquisition. Single sleeve with no information. From an historical research perspective, this archival release is a disappointment. But the music and sound make up for it. As long as this website stays up, you can learn a ton about Crucifer (all in French though - Google will translate). Too bad they didn't include it as a multi-page insert inside the LP.
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