Four years and three albums into their existence, Toronto’s
Crystal Castles have managed to make themselves into one of the most divisive
electronic acts around. The raw,
hard-edged sound they've made for themselves bridges the gap between house and
punk, and chances are you either love them or you hate them. Their third album, aptly named (III), continues in their tradition of
mixing together tracks that are easy to dance to and those that are downright
grating. One thing is certain after
listening to (III); Crystal Castles
haven’t lost their touch, if anything their sound has become even more abrasive
and cloaked in shadows.
The overall vibe of this record recalls the band’s
beginnings, and tracks, like ‘Kerosene’, ‘Affection’, ‘Insulin’ and ‘Telepath’
would’ve fit nicely onto their self-titled debut in 2008. The mixing of house beats with some seriously
dark ambiance provides many memorable moments, the pulsing synth line on
‘Kerosene’ and the noisy blast from Alice Glass’ voice on ‘Insulin’ are the most
immediate and would fit easily into the rest of Crystal Castles’ lineage.
Problems with this album begin to arise when it’s listened
to as a whole. The goth/house/trance
pace of everything gets old after a while, and once you reach the ethereal
synths of ‘Telepath’ near the end it’s likely that you’ll hardly hear it. Simply put, many of these songs are built
from very similar building blocks and they all come out sounding the same to
some degree.
After three albums worth of material, it’s quite possible
that Crystal Castles have become a bit mundane and predictable. After all, one can only take so much brooding
dance music. But, as repetitive and
similar as this record might be, hearing a song like ‘ Affection’ is sure to
remind anyone that the raw energy that Crystal Castles burst onto the scene
with is still alive and well.
Grade: B-
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