Almost three years ago, I reviewed the last release by CRIM for a small fanzine called ramtatta.de. The link to that review is as follows:
https://www.ramtatta.de/s/reviews/f/details/id/9642/
Now the band from Tarragona (Catalonia) has spent time in the studio again, and the result is “Futur Medieval“. The title translates to something like “medieval future” or, more elegantly, “Back to the Past”.
While the band played a sound between punk rock, hardcore, and street punk on their last album “Cançons de mort“, “Futur Medieval“ has a clearer punk rock sound, particularly with a street punk influence. The songs have more melody without losing any pressure or intensity.
The lyrics on “Futur Medieval“ deal with the possible future that awaits humanity, as we are the ones shaping that future. The future is us!
The outlook is bleak: climate change, an increasing struggle for resources, isolation to secure prosperity, cuts or abolishment of basic social security and fundamental rights, as well as rising selfishness are just some of the issues we need to address to avoid catapulting ourselves back into the Middle Ages.
The 13 songs can be seen as a farewell to a society created by a species that is so “intelligent” it can fly to the moon, yet fails to establish humanity. In many ways, we are still in our cave, defending it against everything and everyone that opposes us.
The outlook is grim, and so is the music of CRIM.
CRIM showcases punk rock with passion and power on this album. Many bands do that too. However, only a few have a truly unique sound. Even fewer have a dark sound as the foundation of their style.
CRIM is a special band with a distinctive style. It is exactly this unique style, this idiosyncratic character, that makes the songs, indeed the whole band, something extraordinary.
CRIM has character, backbone, and passion. A combination that only a few bands manage to maintain over many years.
