A Crow Left of the Murder

Incubus

Epic/Immortal Records

Recommended if…

A Crow Left of the Murder

Incubus

Epic/Immortal Records

Recommended if you like: Heavy California rock

It’s hard to swallow an album that you have to let grow on you. And it’s even harder to swallow said album when it comes from a band as established and as defined as Incubus.

A Crow Left of the Murder is a new approach to music for Incubus, which released its first album in 1995 and has gathered a large fan base in the years that have followed. With Crow, they go in a heavy direction in terms of lyrical content and some of the music. But it’s got an experimental feel to it. It’s sort of like they went into the studio, played with a few things here and tweaked something there and recorded it all, making a new release that is of good content but comes off slightly awkward after the first listen.

It takes a few spins to get used to the songs on Crow. They aren’t as heavy as the tracks from their 1999 release Make Yourself and aren’t the light, beach-inspired tracks like the ones on their 2001 release Morning View. But they are altogether somewhere in between, and you even hear a different sound come from front-man Brandon Boyd as he croons with a touch of a falsetto pitch to add to the emotion of some of the songs.

The first single, “Megalomaniac,” is a harsh track in terms of lyrical content, referring to those who think they are larger than life, bigger than their bodies. Boyd sings, “Megalomaniac/You’re no Jesus/Yeah you’re no f—ing Elvis/Wash your hands clean of yourself, baby/and step down, step down.”

The video has a dark feel to it, with images of Hitler flying around with wings, only to have them cut off by a pair of flying scissors as Boyd sings, “If I met you in a scissor fight/I’d cut off both your wings/On principal alone.” But these images aren’t celebrating; they are putting the song into perspective, putting these megalomaniacs in their place.

A track titled “Agoraphobia” is a powerful song that highlights the fear of open and public places. The chorus repeats, “I want to stay inside today,” and Boyd sings in the second verse, “I read the news today/and everything they say/just makes me want to stay inside and wait/But, the better part of me knows/that waiting in the throes is on par with reading while my eyes are closed.”

Before going to work on this album and while on tour last year with Lollapalooza, Incubus was in a transition period, losing its previous bass player and co-founder of the band Dirk Lance, and picking up former Roots bass player Ben Kenney. In a live setting, they hadn’t missed a beat with a new bass player and, on disc, they haven’t either. And the new flavor in the studio brought to the band by the new bassist may have contributed to the experimental sound.

There’s a nice mix of airy and heavy guitar and as per previous Incubus albums, the drums keep a solid background and provide for an awesome beat for every track from start to finish.

All in all, this album is a solid effort from a band, which, pressing on with full force, shows no sign of losing speed. And even though it takes a few listens to get used to their new direction, remember that every step in a band’s career should be taking it forward. A Crow Left of the Murder is going forward with the pedal pushed almost to the metal.