You’d be forgiven for not having heard of Swedish doom metal band Krux; they’re a side project formed by Candlemass bassist/composer Leif Edling as an outlet for ideas that didn’t fit his main band.

Rounded out by members of Entombed, Talisman and Carptree, and Mats Leven of Yngwie Malmsteen Band on vocals, there’s a fair old pedigree in the band. Although they released a self-titled album back in April 2003, this DVD charts their only live show to date (18 May 2003 in Stockholm).

I was surprised to find the music much more enjoyable that I expected. It’s epic, slow and brooding, as is typical. I’m slightly lost for references, but there seem to be touches of everyone from Cathedral to Tea Party via Black Sabbath. It’s heavy yet has plenty of groove, doom metal perhaps not being so far from stoner rock, while Leven’s vocals certainly provide a melodic edge that make this rather attractive, at least as background music.

There, however, is the flaw. Musically I liked this, but visually it leaves a lot to be desired. Although live, there’s little sign of audience presence (though they are there) or the energy you might expect in most live shows. The band play everything pretty straight – like a ‘live in studio’ effort. There’s not much focus for visual attention either, bar a couple of close up solos, for the most part we just see the band looking dark and moody in front of a skull backdrop or words like ‘doom’ and ‘hell’.

The Blair Witch-like video to ‘Black Room’ gives us something more to look at, but that’s pretty much it for the extras. The gallery of images and obligatory interview are both rather pointless. Overall then a disappointing DVD, you might as well stick to the CD.
(2/5)

Release date: 24 May 2004

Krux Live