Crystal Lake -True North – Artery Recordings
Japanese based Crystal Lake are looking to conquer the international market with the release of ‘True North’ via Artery Recordings. The album was just released here in the US on December 2nd and showcases the hardcore/metalcore stylings of the band.
Since the bands inception in Japan in 2002, the band has released several albums and eps in their home country and has already built a strong following both with their fanbase and with the press.
The band has gone through personnel changes only to make the band a stronger, more unified group and that shows on ‘True North’. You get that metalcore style vocals with incredible guitar undertones that are fast and furious.
True North is a ten track album that features killer riffs, versatile vocal stylings, melodies, and great production from start to finish. This album is definitely meant to help break Crystal Lake to an international market and the band make no apologies for that. They know the direction they want to take the band so the music carries a uniform tone without being a formula. It is a smart move for the band and it works to their benefit.
Crstal Lake vocalist Ryo Kinoshita states “Before we started writing this album, we all knew this record would define who we are, where we stand and where we are heading. No matter how things around us change, we are who we are and we’ve always headed the same direction and it never changes. As I have written in the lyrics of “True North,” this record shows how we live and how we die.”
Crystal Lake make their tracks transition like seasons in the year. You start with tracks like ‘Alpha’, ‘Omega’, & ‘Hated” that are your kick the door down, in your face aggression. From there the band move to a commercial metal sounding tracks like ‘Metro’ and ‘True North’.
At that point we transition into a clean, more progressive sound that focuses on the melody with ‘Breathe Deep’, ‘Black and Blue’, and the instrumental ‘Walk on Water’. We travel to the final season that shows a more punk side with ‘Six Feet Under’.
The final track on True North is ‘Waves’. With this track it brings us back to the beginning sound that allows us to travel full circle in the artistry of Crystal Lake’s journey.
With this being their fourth release since that band formed. This album should give them the recognition in the US and to the international market that they have already received in Japan.
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