{"id":308307,"date":"2026-01-28T16:58:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T16:58:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/308307\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T16:58:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T16:58:07","slug":"crystal-lake-the-weight-of-sound-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/308307\/","title":{"rendered":"Crystal Lake – The Weight of Sound Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Crystal Lake<\/strong> is one of those bands that I lost track of. I adored 2015\u2019s The Sign, its blend of hardcore attitude with a surgical metalcore attack and just enough djent and deathcore to make things interesting resulted in some of my all-time favorites in the style (\u201cPrometheus,\u201d \u201cMatrix,\u201d \u201cHades\u201d). Yes, it\u2019s knuckleheaded and boner-dragging brutality posturing, but for a jolt of breakdown-heavy sonic adrenaline, the Japanese quintet fit the bill. I lost track of them, with albums True North and Helix toning down the weight for an Erra<\/strong>-inspired atmospheric metalcore sound. It has been eight years since Helix entered the scene with a thud, so what can we expect from The Weight of Sound?<\/p>\n

The Weight of Sound is the heft of change and consistency alike for Crystal Lake<\/strong>. A notable change is the departure of long-time vocalist Ryo Kinoshita, who released the debut for his solo project Knosis<\/strong> last year, and was replaced by John Robert Centorrino, former vocalist of The Last Ten Seconds of Life<\/strong>. The band acknowledges that Kinoshita\u2019s shoes are nearly impossible to fill; to supplement, Centorrino is backed by an array of guest vocalists: David Simonich of Signs of the Swarm<\/strong>, Taylor Barber of Left to Suffer<\/strong> and Seven Hours After Violet<\/strong>, Myke Terry of Volumes<\/strong> and Fire from the Gods<\/strong>, Karl Schubach of Misery Signals<\/strong> and Jesse Leach of Killswitch Engage<\/strong>. Consistently, however, the instrumental approach is the same, bringing back the nu-metal-meets-djent-meets-hardcore chugs (whose absence made the last two outings toothless), as well as that trademark ethereal guitar layers. The result, however, falls woefully short compared to Crystal Lake<\/strong>\u2019s landmark albums, as the knuckleheaded overtakes the thoughtful and the vocals become a monotonous muck.<\/p>\n

The Weight of Sound (24-bit HD audio) by Crystal Lake<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

For positives, when Crystal Lake<\/strong> manages to balance the heavy and the atmospheric, tracks can truly soar. Yearning chord progressions, layers of melodies and sustained trills, and desperate vocals combine to add a nice dose of melancholy and fury, accented by the band\u2019s signature guitar tone that balances djent weight with hardcore urgency. Even Centorrino\u2019s cleans are a nice addition throughout these tracks, distant shouts or croons that recall Brett Gurewitz\u2019s guest spot in Parkway Drive<\/strong>\u2019s \u201cHome is for the Heartless:\u201d: tasteful and subtle. These tracks primarily populate the back half, a calm after the storm of metalcore pummeling, complete with a more somber mood (\u201cThe Undertow,\u201d \u201cThe Weight of Sound,\u201d \u201cSinners,\u201d \u201cComa Wave\u201d) that recalls more melodic hardcore-inflected metalcore acts like Counterparts<\/strong> or The Ghost Inside<\/strong>. The patience in the songwriting of these moments is also noteworthy, as movements feel nicely unhurried and appropriately contemplative.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Crystal Lake<\/strong>\u2019s balance of the atmosphere and chug, as well as vocal charisma, have always been assets, but they plague The Weight of Sound. Don\u2019t get me wrong, I didn\u2019t love Helix\u2019s more light-and-airy vibe, but too many tracks are just too knuckleheaded here to make a splash, particularly the opening \u201cunnecessary contractions\u201d triptych (\u201cEverblack,\u201d \u201cBludGod,\u201d \u201cNeversleep\u201d), which seem like the band\u2019s metalcore answer to Signs of the Swarm<\/strong>\u2019s To Rid Myself of Truth. Meanwhile, other tracks seem to be wildly inconsistent and are true head-scratchers in terms of placement in the tracklist, featuring bluesy Southern vibes (\u201cKing Down\u201d) or awkward shifts between heavy and ethereal (\u201cDystopia,\u201d \u201cCrossing Nails\u201d). Each placement in the playlist at large feels shoehorned and abrupt, from balls-to-the-wall heavy to southern to ethereal, to confused. For the number of guest vocalists that appear throughout The Weight of Sound, Centorrino\u2019s vocals make them difficult to discern with his smokier and denser presence. It\u2019s unclear if this makes him a better performer or if the production value is just that putrid \u2013 or both.<\/p>\n

To their credit, Crystal Lake<\/strong> hasn\u2019t had to change up their sound since Kinoshita\u2019s departure, and the balance between ethereal atmosphere and chuggy metalcore remains a formidable asset. However, scattershot songwriting and odd track placement doom effectiveness beyond a few sparse moments to break up the confused, knuckleheaded beatdowns. The Weight of Sound is everything you loved about The Sign eleven years ago, but with less identity and more distraction, chugging along for one song before brutalizing you with breakdowns the next. But most notable is Crystal Lake<\/strong>\u2019s lack of direction: The Weight of Sound is all chugs and atmosphere with no clear purpose.<\/p>\n

Rating:<\/strong> 2.0\/5.0
DR:<\/strong> N\/A | Format Reviewed:<\/strong> 320 kb\/s mp3
Label:<\/strong> Century Media Records<\/a>
Websites:<\/strong> crystallake-worldwide.com<\/a> | facebook.com\/crystallake777<\/a>
Releases Worldwide:<\/strong> January 23rd, 2026<\/p>\n

\n\tGive in to Your Anger:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Crystal Lake is one of those bands that I lost track of. I adored 2015\u2019s The Sign, its…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":308308,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[264],"tags":[23794,24248,151085,144677,48315,70157,70158,135026,18,117,151086,151087,12061,19,17,139629,149854,151088,151089,151090,151091,40669,151092,337,17568,117125,1142,1143,151093,151094,48326,70165,151095,103277],"class_list":{"0":"post-308307","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-2-0","9":"tag-24248","10":"tag-bury-your-dead","11":"tag-century-media-records","12":"tag-counterparts","13":"tag-crystal-lake","14":"tag-deathcore","15":"tag-djent","16":"tag-eire","17":"tag-entertainment","18":"tag-erra","19":"tag-fire-from-the-gods","20":"tag-hardcore","21":"tag-ie","22":"tag-ireland","23":"tag-jan26","24":"tag-japanese-metal","25":"tag-killswitch-engage","26":"tag-knosis","27":"tag-left-to-suffer","28":"tag-melodic-hardcore","29":"tag-metalcore","30":"tag-misery-signals","31":"tag-music","32":"tag-nu-metal","33":"tag-parkway-drive","34":"tag-review","35":"tag-reviews","36":"tag-seven-hours-after-violet","37":"tag-signs-of-the-swarm","38":"tag-the-ghost-inside","39":"tag-the-last-ten-seconds-of-life","40":"tag-the-weight-of-sound","41":"tag-volumes"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115973790430955268","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=308307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/308308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=308307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=308307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}