Crystal Castles (III)
Track-by-Track thoughtsPlague - The opener is supposed to introduce you to the album. The vocals are low in the mix and there are plenty of synths pulsing over them which makes the singer sound trapped. It's a claustrophobic and bleak opening in all honesty. A good start to the album though and pretty captivating.
Kerosene - The beat is uglier but is also dancier and features more spritely vocals. It's eerie, and the "I'll protect you from all the things I've seen lyric is unsettling" it doesn't go to the places that the opener did though.
Wrath Of God - A lighter, more ethereal beat, runs through this one; but coupled with the higher tempo and frantic muffled vocals, the song feels like it's pummeling you into the ground.
Affection - It's more of a bridge track I guess. It didn't seem to do too much.
Pale Flesh - Piercing, cascading synths permeate the track ; it's uncomfotable, and more about mood and atmosphere than anything.
Sad Eyes - The most uptempo and danceable one yet. Heavy vocal effects alter and twist the nearly unintelligible vocals as the synths dance around you.
Insulin - The ugliest beat yet. Everything is warped under the marching rhythmn of the track. The beat, high up in the mix, seems to smash everything underneath it, especially the warped and differently pitched vocals. TOo short
Transgender - Lighter and trippier. Not my favorite by far=, but it serves a purpose to let some light in after Insulin.
Violent Youth - Another lighter song. More structure helps keep this one together; it's lighter and more of a breather song.
Telepath - Eerie dance beats blow up around the song. Not too much happens otherwise; it's completely instrumental but propulsive nonetheless.
Mercenary - Almost sounds like farting at times but it's one of the more outright menacing and confrontational tracks.
Child I Will Hurt You - Simplistic and serene at first, jarring after the rest of the suffocating album. It's almost a little sickly sweet; a sinister ending considering the title.
Overall: Dark and bleak, the album surrounds almost immediately with a gripping sense of claustrophobia. The normal signs of comfort on an album, the vocals and the dance beat are often warped, pitched, and twisted into suffocating sounds seemingly designed to pummel or smother the listener. The vocals are often buried low in the mix with near unintelligible lyrics that seem lost or trapped, contributing to a haunted or confining atmosphere; although they do abandon the listener for lengthy stretches of the album. The dance beats, if they can be called that, approximate something energetic and danceable but are often abstract and leave little room to breathe. It's an intense album that is very isolating and cold; but a great experience.
Favorite Song: Insulin
Least Favorite: Affection
Thanks Euphorian, that was a great listen.
Ew.
Bang That >>>>
I don't listen to rock either but I love that album.
They're good though, I've heard a lot of the suns on shuffle.