• New Music Reviews
• |
• Archives
• |
• News
• |
• Submissions
• |
• About
• |
• 
• |
• 

March 2023

• RPWL: Crime Scene
• Transworld Identity: Seven Worlds
• Stormwarning: Stormwarning
• Phantom Elite: Blue Blood
• Narnia: Ghost Town
• Redemption: I Am The Storm
• Cross Country Driver: The New Truth
• The Banishment: Machine And Bone
• Seventh Crystal: Wonderland
• Demons Down: I Stand

February 2023

• Air Raid: Fatal Encounter
• Robin McAuley: Alive
• Creye: III - Weightless
• All My Shadows: Eerie Monsters
• First Signal: Face Your Fears
• Gabrielle de Val: Kiss In A Dragon Night
• We Came From Space: Overlords
• T3nors: Naked Soul
• Wig Wam: Out Of The Dark
• Khymera: Hold Your Ground
• Infinite & Divine: Ascendancy
• eMolecule: The Architect

January 2023

• Girish & The Chronicles: Back On Earth (Reissue)
• Arctic Rain: Unity
• Electric Mob: 2 Make U Cry & Dance
• Crowne: Operation Phoenix
• Ronnie Romero: Raised On Heavy Radio
• Ten: Something Wicked This Way Comes
• Riverside: ID.Entity
• Issa: Lights Of Japan
• Heroes And Monsters: Heroes And Monsters
• Big City: Sunwind Sails

December 2022

• NY Fury: I Want It All
• Tommy DeCarlo: Dancing In The Moonlight
• Tarmat: Out Of The Blue
• Scream Maker: Bloodking
• Sabu: Banshee
• Rob Moratti: Epical
• Nevena: Nevena
• Landfall: Elevate
• After Lapse: Face The Storm

[ More Music Reviews ]

Crystal Ball: Crystalizer

Melodic Heavy Metal

4.5/5.0

Website Facebook Twitter YouTube
Massacre Records
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 11.04.2018

Constant consistency is a good thing for a band. For Switzerland's Crystal Ball it means their tenth album, Crystalizer, the fourth in six years, and another platter of melodic heavy metal, basically their musical calling card.

Crystal Ball

Unfolding that description a little more,Crystalizer is exactly what you would expect from Crystal Ball: melodic metal infused with hard rock groove and wrapped in AOR accessibility. Sharp, brisk riffage, and a powerful rhythm section give Crystal Ball a metal edge. But the same rhythm section infects each song with rock groove. So bang your head and tap your toe to the tunes. Additionally, the band makes melody and harmony, whether by guitar lines or vocal arrangement, necessary parts of every song. The mixture of catchy riffs, melodies, groove, and refrains makes for a lethal combination.

When these things come together you have killer metal rockers like the brisk grooving S.O.S., the AORish Gentleman's Agreement, the heavy hitting Death On Holy Ground, and riff rich Dusty Deadly. For a lighter electric guitar start, there's the bonus track (available with the special edition digipak) Satisfaction Guaranteed, which quickly builds to a heavy metal rocker. The second bonus track, the metal anthem Exit Wounds has a softer start in the first half, then rises with thick riffage to a solo in the latter half. A metal ballad come with Let Her Go With Love, which is driven by a lilting light guitar line. Yet, the most interesting song here maybe Symphony Of Life, which features vocalist Steven Mageney's vocal humming in three parts, beginning, middle, and end. In between, sharp riffs and a catchy rock groove propel the song. As said earlier, Crystalizer is completely Crystal Ball: entertaining melodic metal infected with hard rock groove and sweetened with AOR accessibility. Recommended.

Crystalizer is completely Crystal Ball: entertaining melodic metal infected with hard rock groove and sweetened with AOR accessibility. Recommended.

Alphabetical Index

Arriving from Finland, the origins of Transworld Identity come from Mila Bosa, a singer in a cover band. But it wasn't enough. She aspired to write and perform original songs, forming Transworld Identity ... [ Read More ]