Crystal Lake - Helix (Review)

I compare very many Japanese metalcore bands to the Crystal Lake. And the reasons for this are quite weighty - this is one of few bands whose members demonstrate exceptional quality both in the performance and in the methods of solving artistic tasks. Recently, however, something has gone wrong.

My rating: 68/100   Best Song: Hail To The Fire

Now I begin to discuss specifically. The idea can not be called interesting, and with the implementation is not so simple. The first thing that I noticed is too simple naming. This is a very disturbing sign, given the previous work. But I will not focus on one thing, there are still many interesting things.

Composer's work - the situation is twofold. It's noticeable here that the composer did not initially plan to do something complicated. That is, he just did what he can do. However, there is not very good application of methods for solving artistic tasks. Because of this, the feeling of the album is ambiguous. For example, some songs are not quite original song “+81” is similar to song Live to Die (Nocturnal Bloodlust). The 10th track was not understood by me. And the last two tracks seemed to me the same and inserted only for the quantity.

Vocalist is good. There is a very large variety of vocal parts. And in every vocal technique vocalist shows excellent performance. The only awkward moment - chorus from 3th track looks like a cry of despair. Perhaps this is used as a way to highlight something, but I do not find it appropriate.

Instrumental parts are not entirely predictable - this is a nice detail. It should also be noted that in some songs the high complexity of the instrumental parts, and in some - not very high. I can not say that a good idea, but there is diversity. Guitar parts are also quite complex, especially in tracks 3 and 6. There is a very low guitar tuning, if I'm not mistaken, this is a Drop G. Rhythm section is quite complicated - here are interesting decisions by the composer. I would like to say that there are no complaints about the rhythm section, but even here there are some strange solutions. For example, the use of a drum machine (I don't remember which tracks) looks strange.

Vocal and instrumental parts sound cool, but the methods of solving artistic tasks are a kind of mosh. It reminds me of a new release of band GYZE - it seems that it was released only so that the band would not be forgotten. As you have already noticed, the review is nominally neutral: the high level of the band's skill makes itself felt, but personally I don’t like such ideas and implementation. For me, this band has long been the benchmark of metalcore sound. Now I begin to doubt it.