With members hailing from various outposts of the musical universe, having a synth-accordion and saxophone as featured instruments, and the members’ declared bond over polyrhythmic metal, Middle Age Gregorian chants and ancient architecture, Ckraft formed in France a decade ago and blew convention out the window with their 2022 debut, the appropriately titled Epic Discordant Vision. Bridging the gap between djent’s chugging thunder and the scattershot melodic freedom of jazz, the band have returned with album number two, Uncommon Grounds, set for self-release next week. As a preview to the expansive and otherworldly sounds produced by this quintet, we present the video for the album’s third single “Misconstruction of the Universe.”
When asked to crack his head open and spill about the song and video, founding member and synth-accordion wizard, Charles Kieny had this to say: “The location in which the band was filmed is an old airship hangar in Normandy. Originally built by the French navy during WWI, it was meant to shelter airships used to spot German submarines. The other location is a gigantic Art Deco-styled carpark, built in the 1930s in the French Alps city of Grenoble. The director, Juliette Ulrich, symbolized this concept of old beliefs vs. modern beliefs, by two characters, one with a plague mask and one with a gas mask. They’re fighting, each with their own weapon –– medieval vs. modern, mystic vs. rational, religious vs. scientific –– and they’re chasing something, we don’t know why, maybe some sort of truth. But in the end, when they finally reach the light, nothing remains of them.
“‘Misconstruction of the Universe’ refers to the various interpretations humans make of the universe. The track uses the Gregorian chant ‘Universi Qui Te Expectant’ as the main lead melody. The original Latin lyrics of the Gregorian chant translate to ‘Of all those who have their expectation in you, none will be confounded / Make me know your ways, teach me your paths.’ The paths of all mysticisms and religions are all more or less similar, but always esoteric. They come from the Middle Ages and beyond and offer a certain interpretation of the universe, to which science and modernity oppose. Old beliefs, modern beliefs. One question remains: which one survives?”
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Band photo: Manuel Braun
