Review: “Watch Me Burn” by Crystal Lake

Part of a package that in the physical form includes a DVD of their full live set at Spain’s Resurrection Fest in 2019 and a documentary with interviews and guests, Japanese Metalcore merchants Crystal Lake have looked to keep both fans and their label SharpTone Records happy with a pair of new cuts. For the label it’s nothing new, they have been dropping double A side singles from the likes of We Came As Romans, as have Rise Records with The Acacia Strain and it has been a popular format in these streaming times.

The title track takes the Metalcore act into some Counterparts territory with some beautiful melodic lead guitar parts with a Japanese culture flare while being just a blistering in the heavier parts as Slipknot in their finest hour. Within the fold of “Watch Me Burn” are all the elements that are present on their preceding album “Helix” and and the refinement of that into this has worked really well. A highly energetic, fist pumping anthem, it will see drunken gang chants with the chorus and bouncing crowds during the verses. It’s a fun track and the breakdown is class. “Disobey” on the other hand is a totally different story, with a blistering Deathcore opening akin to Within Destruction that follows on from their track “Aeon” in brutal style. Ryo Kinoshita shows off some serious heavier vocal capabilities and the dark spoken word aspect is stunning. The two tracks are polar opposites and there are places where you’d struggle to say that they are the same band, the only similarity being that they both stuffed full of the high intensity energy that their live show is all about. This may just be a stop gap before the next single but it’s seriously good [8.5/10]

Track listing

1. Watch Me Burn
2. Disobey

“Watch Me Burn” by Crystal Lake is out now via SharpTone Records