Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles (2010)

Artist: Crystal Castles
Album: Crystal Castles (2010)
Label: Fiction
Genre: Electronic
Released: April 2010
Rating: 3.5 of 5


Crystal Castles return with their second self-titled album. There were both some improvements and new styles in this album.

The biggest issue I had with the last album was the high gain, high volume tunes. This hasn't gone away but it is not nearly as prevalent; "Doe Deer" is the most obvious of these tunes and about the only one that features the style exclusively. There are also more of those great jittery synth melodies that gave them so much power in the first album; "Baptism" is a great example.

A major theme of the album was brand new from the last. They seem to have done some great space exploring ethereal music. "Celestica" not only takes it name from this style but also provides the listener with a wonderful example. This is not the only vision-trip with the outro to "Year of Silence" and "Pap Smear" bringing the listener back.

Altough some of the better parts of the last album are lacking, I must say the album is a good cover-cover adventure.