Crystal Lake headed to London to join Fit For A King and Alpha Wolf for their show at the o2 Academy Islington.
Hailing from Japan, the six-piece is known for their heavy blast beats and nasty breakdowns showing influences from metalcore mixed with hardcore elements while their interludes show a more melodic and ambient side. They released their latest full-length album ‘Helix’ in 2019 via Sharptone Records, followed by ‘The Voyages’ in 2020 – a compilation of re-recorded songs from their Kentaro Nishimura era – as well as some more singles with ‘BlüdGod’ (2024, Century Media) being the latest one.
Opening the stage, Crystal Lake are being greeted by an enthusiastically waiting crowd hungry to be chased around. The energy they brought swept the crowd of their feet right from the start, seeing them moshing and two-stepping throughout the whole set – seemingly not getting tired out. Crystal Lake breezed through their set upping the energy with each song and leaving the crowd excited for the rest of the evening.
With the crowd thoroughly warmed up, Alpha Wolf entered the stage being greeted by an already hyped and cheering audience. They picked up right where Crystal Lake left off and upped the energy levels even more, seeing crowd surfer after crowd surfer making their way towards the sage. The crowd kept chanting between songs, demanding them to keep going on. The band ripped their way through the setlist not leaving any time for the audience to take a breather.
With the lights dimming for the last time, Fit For A king made their way to the sage being greeted by an excited crowd. Being more on the melodic side of the modern metalcore spectrum than the rest of the bands, they bring down the energy quite a bit allowing their fans to take it all in. Playing a majority of newer songs, they captured the crowd with their emotive singalong choruses followed by chunky breakdowns which opened up the pits, keeping the audience on their toes.
Overall, it was a special time filled with energy and excitement, and everyone seemed to have had a great time – the bands on stage were seemingly as excited as the crowd in front of the sage screaming the lyrics back at the top of their lungs and moshing along.
Venue: o2 Academy Islington
Band: Fit For A King
Support: Alpha Wolf, Crystal Lake
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A Special Time Creative 