Henry Rollins was once asked in an interview for his opinion about Ron Reyes (one of the original Black Flag singers) who had become a Born again Christian. Reluctant to comment on the strangeness of that fact, Rollins, unusually untalkative, just said, “Well, we all end up something.”

Karyn Crisis, legendary singer of the band Crisis, ended up a spirit medium, it seems. And that makes me feel a bit like I imagine Rollins must have felt. While I think that she deserves recognition and praise for being one of the women pioneers in extreme music, I’m simultaneously baffled by her current beliefs and occupation.

Separating the art from the artist is always difficult, especially when everything is so interlinked. In this case, the artist’s beliefs influence her music, and her new band is named after her person and bound to her person, in the same way that Rollins Band was inseparable from the person of Henry Rollins. If you put your person into your band name, then your person is integral to the band’s concept, and you’re thereby inviting commentary based on your person.

In this part of the world, everybody is allowed to say, believe and do what they want, and rightfully so. That liberty only meets its boundaries, where it starts negatively affecting or harming other people. Making people think that they can talk to ghosts and spirits, to their dead relatives, ancestors, loved ones, and that this practise will give them guidance and improve their lives, is affecting them negatively, I believe, because it literally means selling them a lie. The only thing that’s true, unchanging, constant and eternal in our universe are the laws of physics and nature. And these laws, supported by overwhelming evidence, say that there are no ghosts and spirits, and that the dead don’t talk (and they don’t rise either, for that matter). They also say that the earth is not flat and that homeopathy is a hoax. Believing in lies leads to life altering decisions based on lies. From my point of view, that’s, to put it mildly, not OK. All occult and religious practises stem from a pre-science period. Exploring the occult as a source of artistic inspiration is one thing, considering it true and making money on it is a completely different one.

Karyn Crisis’ formed her new band a few years ago together with her husband Davide Tiso (Ephel Duath). The band’s full name is Karyn Crisis’ Gospel of the Witches. The band is named after Karyn and after what is considered to be the religious text of a group of pagan witches from Tuscany, Italy. The text documents the witches’ beliefs and rituals and was put together and formally published for the first time in 1899 by an American folklorist. The text, its rituals and prominent figures are referenced and thematized in the band’s songs. This branch of paganism is simultaneously the spiritual line Crisis considers herself a descendent of in her work as a spirit medium.

The band’s first album Salem’s Wounds was released by Century Media in 2015 to mixed responses. Musically, it was a step away from what Karyn and Davide had done up to that point, and that confused fans of both quarters, but there were also fans who liked the development. Salem’s Wound referred to the deadliest witch hunt (based on lies, untruths and false beliefs) in the history of Colonial North America and its intrinsic misogyny, with music that had a spiritualistic, ritualistic and tribal character.

The new album, Covenant, continues in that direction. Themes and subjects are unchanged, and the band’s sound is of a two-fold nature: It is either fierce and visceral or dreamy and ethereal, with Karyn’s vocals changing accordingly. I like the sludgy, ritualistic tracks with tribal inspired drumming like Womb of the World, Dea Iside and Janara better than slower songs. I prefer the vocals when they are throaty and guttural. Clean, female, angelic-sounding vocals paired with metal have become a far too trodden path in extreme music to be exciting. What I find intriguing is women exploring their blood-thirsty, violent, traditionally considered unfeminine side.

An increasing number of people seek refuge in spirituality that’s off the beaten paths, that’s not bound to institutions they don’t trust. But the fact that something is alternative, does not make it good. In the end, whatever your problem, you are still safest with scientifically approved ways of treatment.

Has my disagreeing with the artist line of work clouded my judgment with regard to her music? Possibly, though I do try to be objective. Therefore, as always, explore for yourself, think for yourself.

(6/10 Slavica)

https://www.facebook.com/Gospelofthewitches

https://karyncrisisgospelofthewitches.bandcamp.com/album/covenant