Crystal Spiders - Metanoia

Angry Metal Guy

Out of the fertile grounds of North Carolina comes Crystal Spiders, spinning their latest auditory web entitled Metanoia. Metanoia follows two prior full-length albums and a musical tradition of gritty sounds from the American South. It’s steeped in this culture, hinting at a chewy blend of classic metal and the weightier grooves of stoner rock. Does it succeed in harmonizing these elements into a meaty whole?

Metanoia delivers a burly fusion of its heavy metal and stoner rock influences, blending the energetic jauntiness of ’80s heavy metal with the thick guitar tones of ’90s stoner soundscapes. Stoner grooves are the priority, even when paired alongside classic metal acrobatics. First impressions are solid, with the opening passages on “Torche”¹ featuring leads that are good and occasionally wander into very good territory. An unexpected, trilling guitar layer around the mid-point contributes to the psych/stoner vibe, and a hearteningly soulful singer caps a track with sturdy bones. The production packages these elements into a pleasingly rustic aesthetic, sounding as if Crystal Spiders recorded live in a room together. It lands somewhere between Royal Thunder and Kyuss, but is executed with a classic metal sensibility.

Despite Metanoia’s sturdy bones, the body they support is sometimes flabby with a plain face. The songwriting suffers from noticeable bloat. With just seven tracks stretching to 44 minutes, the band isn’t afraid of length. But even your first exposure to the album on “Torche” feels a bit too long; its core lead is good, but not good enough to carry nearly six minutes. By the time you reach the almost nine-minute finale (“O.S..”), you might expect something exciting and climactic. Instead, the same core passage loops through the first half, with the song changing but not significantly for the remainder. Likewise, “Time Travel” keeps returning to the core passage in its first half, and I’ve passed my saturation point with it well before the end. After several minutes, it just sounds lethargic. Notwithstanding a handful of notable solos and transitions, the songs generally move slowly and repetitively between passages. Metanoia feels like 20 minutes of ideas stretched into 40 minutes of music.

By comparison, “Ignite” is immediately more urgent and entertaining as it speeds up to a canter with a nifty lead in its first verse. The dramatic flair of this riff is a welcome change and injects some drama that the rest of the record lacks. This song is the exception that proves the rule of bloated songwriting, as I enjoy the shortest track most. Similarly, the back half of “Time Travel” features an instrumental passage that speeds through a spirited lead with a more technical solo. The album proves more entertaining when it progresses past slower and mid-paced tempos. Beyond these satisfying moments, however, I struggle to highlight any other points of note. Music that stands out must overcome endless choice in a world with virtually limitless options available at a listener’s fingertips. Metanoia’s overall quality is such that it’s difficult to muster any more strengths or weaknesses.

I had a ten-day work trip between my first and last listens to Metanoia, so it had plenty of time to passively gestate. But in reality, I nearly forgot that this review was due; it’s just not a memorable or remarkable release, and hadn’t called to me once during that period. Despite the core strengths of the Crystal Spiders’ sound across their guitar leads and lively production, the bloated songs and solid-but-unexciting songwriting prohibit them from truly excelling.



Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: v0 mp3
Label: Ripple Music
Websites: crystalspiders.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/crystalspiders
Releases Worldwide: May 23rd, 2025

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