Cloud Temple is a project of visual artist and musician Johnny Miller from Chicago. This CD on Little Somebody records, which has some wonderful drawings by Miller himself, contains three tracks of exciting psychedelic folk with a dark touch.

The album begins with the long title track, and the main musical theme is immediately introduced on acoustic guitar. I find this melody very exciting, and it immediately sets the tone for this epic song. The lyrics are narrative, very much like a folk ballad, though I presume they spring from Miller's rich imagination. The song tells the tale of the Crowe King, who accidentally kills two girls, and has to bear his fate accordingly. This story is set to a background of modern folk with strong psychedelic influences in the form of short drone interludes. "Sleeping Breath" is a short track, very relaxing with its dulcimer and reverbed vocals, not to mention beautiful lyrics. "Behind Thee Silver Gate Ov Brenna" is the longest track, with a dark melancholic theme on guitar and vocals, which changes about halfway into a great outro of heavy guitar drone and effects.

Sadly enough, the sound quality ruins the joy of listening at several points in the album. It was recorded on cassette 4-track, and here and there we hear some pitch disturbances which you sometimes get with really old tapes, resulting in a sort of whining sound. At other points, the instruments and vocals are slightly out of tune as well, and all of this together hampers the quality of the album.

Nevertheless, I think this is a very original experimental folk album, with great artwork and lyrics. Needless to say, there is great potential in here, and with a better sound quality and execution, the mark would have been higher. So, while sound quality purists might not enjoy this, I still urge others to give Funeral Dirge Ov Thee Crowe King a try, and especially to remember the name Cloud Temple for the future. I'm looking forward to it.

O.S.