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CRONE VISIONS
Mystic Delusions Of Astral Travel EP

Seeing Red (2022)
Rating: 8/10

This is the sort of Goth rock mysticism you’ll see crop up on various doom / stoner metal platforms and I can see why. There’s driving riffs to behold here on this pleasantly warm four-song EP from US combo Crone Visions, and there’s also that occult vibe going on, more so due to Morgan Grant’s rather haunting vocal tones which sweep and waft throughout the mire of light but effectively scorched music.

This is still metallic in my mind, and nowhere more apparent on the misty grooves of opener ‘Possession’, while ‘The Serpents Tongue’ has a rather juddering opening alongside its shoegaze sways.

Considering how many bands are serving up similar designs and all in the name of alleged evil, Crone Visions boast a rather engaging and evocative sound that is both haunting yet danceable as I envision smoky Goth clubs of yore daubed in the scent of patchouli as a myriad of darkly clad vamps strut to the flitting forms of their own shadows.

The riff of ‘Hex’ is beguiling and jutting, almost jagged and dissonant, as is the wistful chorus and the almost rainy chords that reek of a quintessentially British drabness. ‘Hopes To Thrive’, however, begins with a gentle acoustic sway, a simple synth caress and Grant’s stark yet caressing tones.

If someone had told me that Crone Visions were from the north of England I wouldn’t have been surprised, although the fact that they have their origins in New Hampshire is slightly more intriguing. But for those with a penchant for folk horror delivered to the soundtrack of something decidedly more ethereal yet still doom-tinged I’d suggest this trip over most.

Neil Arnold

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