Crystal Coffin are a relatively new, if obscure black metal act from Vancouver, British Columbia. Featuring Lenkyn Ostapovich (guitars, vocals, synths, piano, balalaika), Aron Shute (vocals, bass), and Rob Poirier (drums)–both members of doom metal outfit Koma–the Canadian purveyors of cosmic evil have a new album on the horizon via equally obscure indie A Beast in the Field. Titled The Starway Eternal, Crystal Coffin’s new album bridges latter-day Enslaved, Wolves in the Throne Room, and Falls of Rauros. This is a forward-attacking yet slightly progressive lean, where rolling rhythms, throat-scarring vocals, contemplative harmonies, and sci-fi lyrical themes weave in and out of Crystal Coffin’s transcendental, if cosmically dark stratagems.
Indeed, the theme on The Starway Eternal is a unique take on the 1986 nuclear catastrophe at Chernobyl. The so-called protagonist of the story is an operator at the ill-fated power plant. Via (or rather through) an previously-thought inoperable console, she uncovers a portal to a dimension of gods and angels, but finds none. Despondent, she attempts to return to Earth, but the reactor (that housed the console) has melted down. Her way back is shut, but might be possible–though obviously deadly–for her to free-fall through the Earth’s atmosphere. There are parallels in Crystal Coffin’s story to our collective fate. They work well in context of the contemplative black metal offered on The Starway Eternal.
Say Crystal Coffin: “‘The Starway Eternal’ is the title track from Crystal Coffin’s second album. Musically, we wanted to back up the opening track, ‘Shapeshifter Huntsman,’ with a band firing on all cylinders to keep the momentum and energy high before crashing down into the extended doom-laden outro that helps signal a shift in the storytelling on the album. Lyrically, this track identifies images and recurring themes found throughout the album regarding the protagonist’s cosmic travels, the search for gods and angels purported to be hidden beyond the ancient gates of our known solar system, and the symbolism of a Pandora’s Box that we offer as silver serpent trapped under layers of ice until its eventual escape during the thaw.”
Travel into the time before time and the space between spaces with Crystal Coffin. Venture into the dark unknown now!
