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Epitaph
Rock · 1997

Epitaph

King Crimson

A sprawling archival document of King Crimson's 1969 birth. Massive Mellotron waves, jazz-metal collisions, and Greg Lake's haunting vocals captured in raw intensity.

1997 · Discipline Global Mobile

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This is the sound of a genre being born in real-time, captured with all the grit and electricity of 1969. Epitaph functions as a sonic time capsule, transporting the listener to the small, smoke-filled clubs and BBC studios where King Crimson first unleashed their symphonic fury. It is a dual experience: one moment you are floating in the pastoral, flute-led dreamscapes of I Talk to the Wind, and the next you are being pulverized by the proto-metal dissonance of 21st Century Schizoid Man. The recording quality varies, but the raw power of the performances never wavers.

Moments Worth Listening For
The sudden shift from the delicate flute melody to the crushing main riff of 21st Century Schizoid Man at the BBC sessions.
The way the Mellotron layers build into a terrifying wall of sound during the climax of Epitaph on Disc 1.
Michael Giles' frantic, hyper-active drum fills that seem to anticipate every guitar phrase during the live improvisations.
Where This Album DepartsEach spoke is a trait. The orange shape shows where this album pulls away from — or holds to — the rest of the artist’s catalogue. Tap for more.

How does Epitaph sound next to the rest of King Crimson's catalogue?

Baritone+2.3σ

The vocals lean far further into baritone than the rest of the catalogue.

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