Jungle Rot, KHNVM und Rats Of Gomorrah
04.08.2026 Stuttgart / Der Schwarze Keiler

Signs of the Swarm, Bleed From Within und Of Mice & Men
10.08.2026 Stuttgart / Im Wizemann

#DerSchwarzeKeiler #ImWizemann #JungleRot #SignsOfTheSwarm #Stuttgart #SteelFeed

Jungle Rot, KHNVM und Rats Of Gomorrah
04.08.2026 Stuttgart / Der Schwarze Keiler

Signs of the Swarm, Bleed From Within und Of Mice & Men
10.08.2026 Stuttgart / Im Wizemann

#DerSchwarzeKeiler #ImWizemann #JungleRot #SignsOfTheSwarm #Stuttgart #SteelFeed

Milking The Goatmachine, Majesty, Macbeth (DE), Paragon, Nitrogods, Sacred Steel, Squealer, The Very End, Wizard, Revolution Eve, Ten Weeks Later, Voidripper, [soon] und Sick#Red
04.07.2026 N?rnberg / Z-Bau

Signs of the Swarm, Bleed From Within und Of Mice & Men
11.08.2026 N?rnberg / Hirsch

#Hirsch #MilkingTheGoatmachine #Nurnberg #SignsOfTheSwarm #ZBau #SteelFeed

Elder
21.06.2026 Frankfurt / Das Bett

Milking The Goatmachine, Majesty, Macbeth (DE), Paragon, Nitrogods, Sacred Steel, Squealer, The Very End, Wizard, Revolution Eve, Ten Weeks Later, Voidripper, [soon] und Sick#Red
09.05.2026 Frankfurt / Das Bett

Moon Shot und Die Happy
13.11.2026 Frankfurt / Nachtleben

Signs of the Swarm, Bleed From Within und Of Mice & Men
13.08.2026 Aschaffenburg / Colos-Saal

#Aschaffenburg #ColosSaal #DasBett #Elder #Frankfurt #MilkingTheGoatmachine #MoonShot #Nachtleben #SignsOfTheSwarm #SteelFeed

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#MetalInjection
SIGNS OF THE SWARM Add Headlining Dates Amid Spring Tour With LORNA SHORE

https://metalinjection.net/tour-dates/signs-of-the-swarm-add-headlining-dates-amid-spring-tour-with-lorna-shore

#SIGNSOFTHESWARM #LORNASHORE #AddHeadliningDatesAmidSpringTourWith #deathcore #tour #MetalInjection #metal #music

DEATHSTROKE - DISSOLVING PATTERNS (FEAT. SIGNS OF THE SWARM) [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO] (2026) SW EXCL

https://peertube.gravitywell.xyz/w/6Vca2zip5nYBeicVmZdRP4

DEATHSTROKE "DISSOLVING PATTERNS" (FEAT. DAVID SIMONICH FROM SIGNS OF THE SWARM) OUT NOW!

https://peertube.gravitywell.xyz/w/aXYFjeRYaFkx9EoZqNpBQD

Crystal Lake is one of those bands that I lost track of. I adored 2015’s The Sign, its blend of hardcore attitude with a surgical metalcore attack and just enough djent and deathcore to make things interesting resulted in some of my all-time favorites in the style (“Prometheus,” “Matrix,” “Hades”). Yes, it’s knuckleheaded and boner-dragging brutality posturing, but for a jolt of breakdown-heavy sonic adrenaline, the Japanese quintet fit the bill. I lost track of them, with albums True North and Helix toning down the weight for an Erra-inspired atmospheric metalcore sound. It has been eight years since Helix entered the scene with a thud, so what can we expect from The Weight of Sound?

The Weight of Sound is the heft of change and consistency alike for Crystal Lake. A notable change is the departure of long-time vocalist Ryo Kinoshita, who released the debut for his solo project Knosis last year, and was replaced by John Robert Centorrino, former vocalist of The Last Ten Seconds of Life. The band acknowledges that Kinoshita’s shoes are nearly impossible to fill; to supplement, Centorrino is backed by an array of guest vocalists: David Simonich of Signs of the Swarm, Taylor Barber of Left to Suffer and Seven Hours After Violet, Myke Terry of Volumes and Fire from the Gods,1 Karl Schubach of Misery Signals and Jesse Leach of Killswitch Engage. Consistently, however, the instrumental approach is the same, bringing back the nu-metal-meets-djent-meets-hardcore chugs (whose absence made the last two outings toothless), as well as that trademark ethereal guitar layers. The result, however, falls woefully short compared to Crystal Lake’s landmark albums, as the knuckleheaded overtakes the thoughtful and the vocals become a monotonous muck.

The Weight of Sound (24-bit HD audio) by Crystal Lake

For positives, when Crystal Lake manages to balance the heavy and the atmospheric, tracks can truly soar. Yearning chord progressions, layers of melodies and sustained trills, and desperate vocals combine to add a nice dose of melancholy and fury, accented by the band’s signature guitar tone that balances djent weight with hardcore urgency. Even Centorrino’s cleans are a nice addition throughout these tracks, distant shouts or croons that recall Brett Gurewitz’s guest spot in Parkway Drive’s “Home is for the Heartless:”: tasteful and subtle. These tracks primarily populate the back half, a calm after the storm of metalcore pummeling, complete with a more somber mood (“The Undertow,” “The Weight of Sound,” “Sinners,” “Coma Wave”) that recalls more melodic hardcore-inflected metalcore acts like Counterparts or The Ghost Inside. The patience in the songwriting of these moments is also noteworthy, as movements feel nicely unhurried and appropriately contemplative.

Crystal Lake’s balance of the atmosphere and chug, as well as vocal charisma, have always been assets, but they plague The Weight of Sound. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t love Helix’s more light-and-airy vibe, but too many tracks are just too knuckleheaded here to make a splash, particularly the opening “unnecessary contractions” triptych (“Everblack,” “BludGod,” “Neversleep”), which seem like the band’s metalcore answer to Signs of the Swarm’s To Rid Myself of Truth. Meanwhile, other tracks seem to be wildly inconsistent and are true head-scratchers in terms of placement in the tracklist, featuring bluesy Southern vibes (“King Down”) or awkward shifts between heavy and ethereal (“Dystopia,” “Crossing Nails”). Each placement in the playlist at large feels shoehorned and abrupt, from balls-to-the-wall heavy to southern to ethereal, to confused. For the number of guest vocalists that appear throughout The Weight of Sound, Centorrino’s vocals make them difficult to discern with his smokier and denser presence. It’s unclear if this makes him a better performer or if the production value is just that putrid – or both.

To their credit, Crystal Lake hasn’t had to change up their sound since Kinoshita’s departure, and the balance between ethereal atmosphere and chuggy metalcore remains a formidable asset. However, scattershot songwriting and odd track placement doom effectiveness beyond a few sparse moments to break up the confused, knuckleheaded beatdowns. The Weight of Sound is everything you loved about The Sign eleven years ago, but with less identity and more distraction, chugging along for one song before brutalizing you with breakdowns the next. But most notable is Crystal Lake’s lack of direction: The Weight of Sound is all chugs and atmosphere with no clear purpose.

Rating: 2.0/5.0
DR: N/A | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Century Media Records
Websites: crystallake-worldwide.com | facebook.com/crystallake777
Releases Worldwide: January 23rd, 2026

Bruh the new #SignsOfTheSwarm album is awesome. This has been a GOATed year for deathcore. We had Whitechapel (still my AOTY so far ), shadow of intent, this, and Lorna Shore coming.

The second to last song on this SOTS album , Judgement something , is my favorite, listened to it about 5x in a row