The Depths · All albums

Larks' Tongues in Aspic

King Crimson · 1973

• Zone: Twilight (level 3 of 5)
• Genre: Rock, Progressive rock, Experimental rock
• Mood: tense, jagged, menacing
• Sound: violin, odd time signatures, free improvisation, heavy riffs, metallic percussion, long songs

Larks’ Tongues in Aspic moved King Crimson away from the symphonic sound of their debut album towards something much harsher. Robert Fripp, John Wetton, Bill Bruford, David Cross and Jamie Muir combined heavy, angular riffs with violin, improvisation and Muir’s junk percussion, which included found objects, chains and bits of metal. The two title pieces swing between near silence and sudden violence in shifting odd time signatures, while “The Talking Drum” builds slowly from a repeating rhythm into noise. It helped lay the groundwork for avant-prog, math rock and later heavy experimental music, and Fripp’s metallic riffing was a clear influence on metal.

Track list

1. Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part One
2. Book of Saturday
3. Exiles
4. Easy Money
5. The Talking Drum
6. Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part Two