Techdeath fans bemoaned the fifteen-year gap between Cynic’s first two albums almost as restlessly as they’re doing to the third Necrophagist album that may never come. Spiral Architect fans outdo both by a significant margin amid the recent rumblings in their camp after over a quarter-century of inactivity. All pale in comparison to Florida’s Crimson Glory, who this month are set to deliver their first new platter in twenty-seven goddamn years.
This being Crimson Glory, there has been another shakeup in personnel, with on-again, off-again singers Wade Black and Todd LaTorre being replaced by fellow native Houstonian Travis Wills of Infidel Rising. Original drummer Dana Burnell has also dethroned the computer that cosplayed as ex-Savatage drum-killer Steve Wacholz on 1999’s underloved Astronomica. But by far, the most unexpected exit was that of founding guitarist and bandleader Jon Drenning, with whose blessing Crimson Glory soldiered on with new guy Mark Borgmeyer filling those shoes.
Though Drenning has historically shared songwriting duties with his bandmates, especially bassist Jeff Lords, the significance of his departure cannot be understated. While Crimson Glory’s identity was collectively fashioned, Drenning was arguably the glue that adhered it all together. This is much likeMarc “Xenoyr” Campbell bouncing from Ne Obliviscaris, orChris DeGarmo leavingQueensrÿche all those years ago. And while it took decades for Queensrÿche to find their footing again, and we’ve yet to see how NeO’s output will be affected, we already have the answer for Crimson Glory. Briefly, all is well.
Chasing the Hydra skips the admittedly cool Enya cover that opened its predecessor, opting to get right down to business with an actual drum intro featuring actual drums played by an actual drummer. If Crimson Glory’s use of their classic logo didn’t indicate the direction this, their fifth album, would take, “Redden the Sun” removes all doubt. While the band isn’t merely retreading old ground on this cut, they’re certainly continuing on the path they’d set for themselves on those incredible first two albums of theirs.
They’ve also eschewed the mechanical tones that helped characterize Astronomica – the production on Chasing the Hydra is more in line with the sounds that typified much classic 80s metal, though it decidedly (and thankfully) sounds clearer and more organic, especially as far as drums and guitars are concerned. The riffs, harmonies, and textures sound both clean and human, elements severely underserved on Astronomica, though the guitars on Chasing the Hydra could certainly stand to have been mixed a bit louder.
Wills does us a solid by not hitting those highs of his right off the bat: he introduces himself to Crimson fans with an aggressive mid-range bark that suits this apparent continuation to “War of the Worlds” beautifully, easing us into some stratospheric shrieks that would certainly win the approval of fallen frontman John “Midnight” McDonald. The interlude boasts an uneasy tapping flurry by primary riff-writer and sole member to appear on every Crimson Glory album Lords, which indirectly leads us to Borgmeyer showing us why he selected to join this band. This man shreds with the soul of the undead, his living half putting its all into his soloing, with the other half supplying the rage. “Redden the Sun” concludes with an unexpectedly gentle cadence, perhaps inadvertently summarizing everything that makes Crimson Glory what they are: a force not to be fucked with.
Speaking of Lords, there’s much to be admired about him. Drenning has gone on record to state that Lords creates monstrous riffs as casually as most people fart, and if swimming in the Crimson Glory discography doesn’t convince you that Lords is a titan of his instrument, perhaps you ought to just catch them live. His adherence to the instrument’s traditional role is no reason for him not to go beyond: where lesser bassists are content to just fatten the guitar, Lords drives the damn bus, interjecting his grooves with occasional shreddy flair. He embodies the creativity of Sean Malone, the discipline of Rex Brown, and the fury of Randy Coven, capped with the odd nod to Bootsy Collins.
He doesn’t merely play the bass guitar – the bass guitar has chosen him as a conduit for its many facets of greatness. And perhaps typically for a band with a monster bassist, Lords’ parts on Chasing the Hydra feature a tad too prominently in the mix – I actually had to cut the bass on my car’s EQ down to roughly 20% for things to sound decent, however fine the album sounds in my earbuds. Plus twenty points for sounding more like a band than a studio project, but minus several points for the imbalanced mix.
The album’s title track follows with an intro that will leave fans thinking it might be “Red Sharks 2” right up until Wills spits out some unexpected gnarls, bordering on growls. He’ll then leave listeners wondering if he’s the second coming of Midnight, but lest you suspect that the band is merely recycling their classics, the band employs some frightfully heavy, groove-laden riffs at the interlude before Borgmeyer again dazzles us with fretwork, and Wills goes into some wailing falsettos that sound like him and him alone. Crimson Glory are not cloning themselves on Chasing the Hydra; they’re paying homage to their own pedigree.
“Broken Together” is without question at, or at least near, the forefront of this offering decades in the making, and happens to be the first song on this album that doesn’t take direct inspiration from a previous Crimson banger. It is, however, the closest the album comes to sounding like the band’s younger self. Structurally, stylistically, and in delivery, this song could have been on Transcendence, and no one’s gonna convince me that this is a bad thing.
The acoustic intro to “Angel in My Nightmare” also recalls a handful of Crimson classics, most notably “Azrael,” but a minute in we find this song doing its own thing, building up to one of the greatest crescendos on the entire record, with Borgmeyer and Ben Jackson expertly teasing us as they slide their way up their necks and breaking into quick bursts of harmonic tension. The motif that drives this song is also the stuff of legend, and the boys know better than to beat us to death with it. Mark these both as instant classics.
It must be noted that the band has chosen, or at least approved, the use of a handful of cinematic tropes that add nothing to this fantastic platter of new tunes. “Indelible Ashes” opens with the sound of wind, some unspecified Middle Eastern wind instrument, and a gong hit before starting in earnest. A banger of a tune on its own merits, and holy shit does that chorus just slay, the prominent use of raised sevenths foretold in that intro really needs no augmentation.
The following cut, “Beyond the Unknown,” employs an even more obnoxious trope – that dreaded fiend sound designers call the “booj” that’s been heard in so many film trailers that even I, someone who rarely watches movies, am sick of it. “Pearls of Dust” pulls a similar prank, kicking off with some bizarrely unidentifiable clashes that film illiterates like myself are unable to identify or disregard. I question the use of these tropes because they’re external elements that do exactly zero to move the song or the listener; they’re just kind of there, ready to be either ignored or reviled, and I’m grateful that they’re just brief enough not to interfere with the strength of the songs themselves.
“Armor Against Fate” is an eerie, epic crusher that begins mighty thrashily, boasts some wicked guitar melodies, and brings an insecure sense of optimism at the refrains only to kick us down that hellpit it threatened us with when it greeted us, while the aforementioned “Pearls of Dust” might be the heaviest thing Crimson’s ever done. The album concludes with lead single “Triskaideka.” Originally released a good two years ago, this cut opens with another unfortunate sound effect before redeeming itself with the precision and panache that Crimson Glory made their hallmark back before I could even speak English. Certainly a wise choice to tease the band’s return, “Triskaideka” has it all – melody, wrath, grace, and clarity of purpose.
Perhaps the most daunting aspect of a return so many years in development is the fear that the band may not live up to the expectations it’s set for itself. Chasing the Hydra has Crimson Glory facing this for the second time in their career, and once again, they’ve come out on top, this time with the knowledge that they won’t antagonize the Midnight purists of yore like they did last time. Chasing the Hydra does not chase its own shadow – it embraces that shadow to forge a mightier beast.
Release Date: April 17th, 2026
Record Label: Bravewords Records / No Remorse Records
Genre: Heavy Metal
Musicians:
- Travis Wills / Vocals
- Dana Burnell / Drums
- Jeff Lords / Bass
- Ben Jackson / Guitars
- Mark Borgmeyer / Guitars
- Jon Pyres / Keys
Chasing The Hydra Tracklist:
- Redden the Sun
- Chasing the Hydra
- Broken Together
- Angel in My Nightmare
- Indelible Ashes
- Beyond the Unknown
- Armor Against Fate
- Pearls of Dust
- Triskaideka
Order the album here.
The post CRIMSON GLORY – Chasing The Hydra (Album Review) appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.
