Crystal Castles – III

Text: Sherman Yang

Canadian electronic music duo Crystal Castles releases their third studio album III. The album haunts with its disturbing electronic mixes that sound out of this world. The middle of opening track ‘Plague’ sounds like someone left a chainsaw on in the recording studio and a girl is screaming. 

Get out your party gear because the album sounds like a gothic rave party, although some of the tracks on the album might give you nightmares like ‘Pale Flesh’. What sounds like puppies being set on fire at times, the mind-numbing track is sure to make your hair stand.

‘Affection’ kicks off with heavy synth-beats and the eerie vocals that haunt throughout the album. The production of the track seems very likely to send one into a trance. ‘Wrath Of God’, on the other hand, has a more gradual build up, starting off with slower beats and picking up pace as the song progresses.

The album overall has a very focused sound. While there aren’t many lyrics in the tracks, the production and feel of the songs are seemingly trying to send the same subliminal message. The tracks sound like they belong to a soundtrack of a horror film and are those we would ironically avoid listening to at night, despite it also having the feel of being in a rave.

Recommended tracks: ‘Affection’, ‘Wrath Of God’

Rating: 2.5/5