.png){kind=logo}
ALBUM REVIEW: Chalk - Crystalpunk
- Alex Nuttall
- 11 hours ago
- 2 min read
Belfast duo Chalk lay down a collection of tracks that blur the lines between genres and identity. Capturing the volatile and brash sounds of acts such as Fat Dog, Young Fathers and TOOL, ‘Crystalpunk’ is an intense, yet emotional reflection on contending with the pressures of everyday life.
Opener ‘Tongue’ is an industrial, head spinning track that like a factory floor is a layer of mechanical noise. ‘Pain’, a groovier track, that fizzes and beeps into the albums first coherent lyrics “Come kiss my ring, I’ll be the King”, drips with angst. The pulsating energy continues into the closest track to a club classic on the album, ‘Can’t Feel It’. The combination of melancholic lyrics and electronic vibrations contribute to the shadowy darkness the album creates.
‘Longer’, a heavier, guitar driven track is an expressive metalcore wall of sound reminiscent of Bring Me the Horizon. ‘One-Nine-Eight-Zero’ is a shift of pace. Heavily produced vocals and spacious synth lines cleverly match lyrics that yearn for a return to the 1980s.
‘Eclipse’ is a transcendental interlude that sits in distinct opposition to the rest of the album. Rattling and hissing, ‘Skem’ is a manic, cyber-punk injection of psychosis. While for a fleeting moment, ‘Skem’ makes way for the stillness of ‘Eclipse’ to return, an untimely beep signals the re-entry of hysteria, which bleeds into ‘I.D.C’.
A song of two halves, ‘Béal Feirste’, is the undeniable climax of the album. The first half of the eight-minute, trippy track pumps and grinds, very much inspired by Underworld’s ‘Born Slippy’. The comparisons end there, as what follows are a combination of synths that rain down crystals from the sky.
‘Crystalpunk’ encapsulates the tumultuous affairs that accompany an all-nighter. It’s only right then that the closing track, ‘Ache’ begins with the lyric ‘Good Morning’. Metronomic and alarm-like, the closer is softer in comparison to the rest of the album and the perfect hangover cure to the messy intensity manufactured by Chalk.
Comments