King Crimson - The Power to Believe
Sanctuary
Nuevo Metal
11 songs (51:19)
Release year: 2003
King Crimson, Sanctuary
Reviewed by Keegan
Album of the month

Metal bands like Iced Earth, and Cradle of Filth are notorious for having a constantly rotating lineup. But regardless of how many singers, guitarists, bassists, and drummers Jon Schaffer will eventually round up; the total number of players involved in Iced Earth will pale in comparison to the number guitarist Robert Fripp has brought into and fired from the legendary progressive rock band: King Crimson. Over 30 years and 23 members since their inception, Crimson has returned with their heaviest and undoubtedly the best album of their career with The Power to Believe. While the previous album from the seventh lineup of the band, The ConstruKction of Light had many excellent songs (The ConstruKction of Light, FraKtured, Lark’s Tongues in Aspic Part IV), the then new lineup showed significant rough edges throughout the album. The Power to Believe shows that King Crimson have grown into and perfected their new sound.

Singer/Guitarist Adrian Belew begins the album with The Power to Believe I: A Cappella, a Spoken haiku filtered through a vocorder. The first song on the album is Level Five (Originally planned to be Lark’s Tongues in Aspic Part V). Within the first few seconds of the heavily distorted guitar intro it becomes apparent that King Crimson are back in full force and heavier than ever. The song is an elaborate instrumental composition with a heavy use of triggered drum loops from drummer Pat Mastelotto. There’s quite a bit of the classic Crimson alternating guitar lines accompanied by the astounding Warr guitarist Trey Gunn (who played the role of bassist while in the band). Toward the end of the song there is a unison run that would leave many prog-metal bands of today gasping for breath. The first song with vocals follows. Eyes Wide Open is a lighter King Crimson song a la One Time or Walking on Air. Fripp plays an excellent solo toward the end of the song. Another instrumental, Elektrik is another highlight of the album. Although it uses electronic drum loops, and alternating guitar lines, the song is completely different from Level Five. The dynamics of Elektrik change drastically, as the song rises to a super heavy guitar riff in the last few minutes. The next song is Facts of Life. This is the first heavy song with vocals on the album. This is the most straightforward song the band has written in a long time.

The second pat of The Power to Believe begins with The Power to Believe II. The song is the haiku from the first part set to drums, bass, and synth guitar. The third instrumental of the album, Dangerous Curves follows. The song builds from silence for 3 minutes before Mastelotto’s unique, off-time drum fills enter and the song explodes, with every piece that had been building seemingly forever come together. Fripp closes the song with a solo that cadences on an awkward chord, producing a very dark effect. The final vocal song, Happy With What You Have to Be Happy With takes a stab at tired mainstream bands. The alternating guitars return in this one, creating an odd chorus to contrast the straightforward verse. The album closes with the Power to Believe III, which is very similar to Deception of the Thrush and The Power to Believe IV: Coda, which is centered on a Fripp soundscape.

With The Power to Believe, King Crimson once again goes beyond the boundaries of progressive rock to create one of the best albums of the year. Any metal head in an experimental mood should check this album out. Not only does Crimson represent the roots of metal, they continue to venture beyond what the music of any time is meant to sound like.

Killing Songs :
Level Five, Eyes Wide Open, Elektrik, Dangerous Curves
Keegan quoted 95 / 100
Other albums by King Crimson that we have reviewed:
King Crimson - Red reviewed by Bar and quoted CLASSIC
King Crimson - Islands reviewed by Goat and quoted 65 / 100
King Crimson - Discipline reviewed by Crash and quoted 95 / 100
King Crimson - Lizard reviewed by Goat and quoted 90 / 100
King Crimson - In The Wake Of Poseidon reviewed by Goat and quoted 85 / 100
To see all 7 reviews click here
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