Crystal Coffin - The Transformation Room (2020)^{Release ID: 50054}

Aron Shute may just be my new favourite black metal vocalist. His performances at times on The Transformation Room are deranged and demented which just so happens to be how I like my black metal orations to be decanted. He is also bassist and one of three vocalists in Koma, a sludge/doom band who are on my to do list also now. I stumbled across Crystal Coffin whilst researching inclusions for my The North clan playlist suggestions and I soon went all in on listening to the whole album. Whilst the conventional black metal tropes are more than evident, what appeals to me about CC’s sound is that there are also prog, ambient and electronic musings going on throughout the album. The band manage to incorporate these different elements without afflicting the listener with a sense of alienation from these perhaps unexpected inclusions.

Taking up the unusual or unexpected is not just limited to the music though, The Transformation Room takes the Holodomor that occurred in the Ukraine in the 1930’s (a man-made famine around the Soviet Union at the time that it is debated whether it was intentional or not, and was responsible for millions of deaths) as its theme, whilst exploring the relevance to personal suffering, pain and higher plains of existence. Despite its macabre subject matter, the album sounds like a thorough examination of this entire concept. It flows the earthiness and grounded nature of a reality of hell on earth into the transcendental possibilities of what lies beyond through those more eclectic musical choices well.

I am not a fan usually of instrumentals or passages in the middle of records but ‘The Inverted Burial of Taras’ is one of those ambient moments that provides some real respite before the band charges headlong into album highlight ‘I Emerge’ where Aron’s vocals really get to show their nefarious side. This an almost doom metal track. Where it not for the rasping vocals in fact, there would be little to stop you thinking this was a guest track. Lenkyn Ostapovich’s guitar and keyboards both get to really shine on this track and with drummer Rob Poirier also being in Koma, it should not perhaps be such a surprise of the doomier direction of this track. This horrendous event from 20th century eastern Europe is effectively portrayed in this melodic, harrowing and compelling concept album. If you like your black metal with a bit of variety, then this is most certainly worth a go.