Crippled Black Phoenix

Founded in 2004 in Cheltenham, England, around drummer and composer Justin Greaves, Crippled Black Phoenix has operated from the start as a fluid collective rather than a band with a fixed lineup. After his stints in Iron Monkey and Electric Wizard, Greaves developed a songwriting style that blends progressive rock, post‑rock, dark folk, psychedelia and doom‑tinged elements, with often extended tracks built on repetition, slow crescendos and a melancholic atmosphere. Crippled Black Phoenix laid its foundations with A Love of Shared Disasters in 2006, then refined that identity on The Resurrectionists/Night Raider (2009), I, Vigilante (2010) and (Mankind) The Crafty Ape (2012). The project broadened its scope with White Light Generator (2014), Bronze (2016), Great Escape (2018), Ellengæst (2020) and Banefyre (2022). Regular changes of musicians and vocalists are part of Crippled Black Phoenix's story, with a recent lineup centred on Justin Greaves, Belinda Kordic, Helen Stanley, Andy Taylor and Joel Segerstedt. Between atmospheric rock, twilight songs and heavier passages, Crippled Black Phoenix has moved since its beginnings between prog, post‑rock and metal scenes without settling permanently into a single category.