Crystal Castles – (III)

It’s hard to beat the horrific reputation Crystal Castles has managed to give itself over the past few years. There was the kerfluffle over a gig in Dallas that got cancelled a few years ago, as well as the time at Glastonberry when security had to escort the duo of the stage. Putting it simply: the raw aggression in Crystal Castles’s music has never been in question. But at their best, Alice Glass and Ethan Kath have found ways to temper that force, softening and warping their agitated production.

Surprisingly then, on (III), little of the chaos that so defined Crystal Castles’s two previous releases can be found. It’s not that the music has become more subdued, it just feels as if everything has been rethought. There’s an intentionality here, replacing the carefree flaunting of melodies that listeners have grown accustomed to. The opening track, “Plague,” dawns with an almost wave-like sonic progression, slowly revealing Glass’s voice, which begins as darkly colored as something off a track by the Knife. But as that rasp transitions into Glass’ more familiar high octane screech, the music amplifies rather than reorients. Where before perhaps we would be thrown for a loop by a sudden transition, the shuddering melody instead grows, providing an oddly pleasing cohesiveness.

On “Kerosene,” too, the glitchy tones and voice modulations fall in a predictable sequence, creating a backdrop for Glass as she allows her voice to settle, relaxed. The final lyrics of “Kerosene,” which are sung over silence, provide a guide to what might just be going on with (III): ‘I’ll protect you from all the things I’ve seen.’ On cue, the most recognizable single from the album, “Wrath of God,” follows with a nerve-wracking beat that throbs easily between deafening and comforting.

On “Wrath of God,” Glass seems to be consumed by the production, and if the mission of this album is truly a kind of salvation, it is here that the demons seem most insurmountable. The pleasure is unmistakeable, however, as the occasional drops of sweetness in the gritty production seem to belie the intensity of Glass’ voice. It’s nothing new that Crystal Castle’s compositions are all about juxtaposing crunch and glitter, but on (III), this process has been stripped down so that each song revolves around fluctuations in a single melodic progression.

As the individual tracks run into each other, you don’t get a sense of mixing and matching so much as an ordering, a careful weaving of sound that creates a tapestry that before too long you can’t find your way out of. It’s hard to pin-point individual moments on (III) because it seems like this album, in contrast to the band’s first two, is meant to be digested in more than 20 second increments.

It’s in that context that the “Child I Will Hurt You” closes things out, a song that sounds like a lullaby despite it’s disturbing title. On the final track of (II), “I Am Made of Chalk,” the combustion that had characterized everything before seemed to come to a head. But here, you get the sense of Glass and Kath are simply saying their peace. On one level, (III) is a let down for fans of the frenetic style that Crystal Castles is synonymous for. It’s a mature, subtle album that questions rather than provokes, and if it won’t inspire any more fist-fights, it may just push us to look a little deeper at what Crystal Castles has been trying to say all along.

4/5 bars