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Inspired by 80s heavy metal and horror stories five young Swedish men started rehearsing together just for fun in the first half of 2003. They had a lot of fun together and decided to take the project to the next level by recording a demo with their own material. After a couple of line-up changes they are now only four guys left in the band but they are also one demo stronger. The title track "Death's Gambit" is by far the strongest song here and with its powerful driving riff it is also a killer live. Having heard this song with both their original vocalist and the current one (who is also the lead guitarist) I definitely think they should find themselves a new vocalist. The old one had a strong solid clean voice but the lead guitarist is doing some kind of harsh, raw vocal style which is supposedly meant to sound scary but unfortunately it sounds rather horrible when he adds more force to it. Another thing about "Death's Gambit" is that it is more or less a reworked version of Iron Maiden's "The Mercenary" from their "Brave New World" album. This was probably not intentional but it's still the way it is. There is indeed one cover on this demo though and a very unlikely one I must say. Crystal Street have decided to cover "Wicked Game" by Chris Isaak. That, my friends, is how old-school this band really is. "Death's Gambit" is a decent demo but nothing more, nothing less, and if you don't enjoy any of the two opening tracks you will probably not like the rest of it. Advices for the future would be to rehearse to get tighter as a band, look for a new vocalist and work hard on new material. That way their next demo will mark the step to a higher level for Crystal Street.
| Tracklist |
| 1. Death's Gambit |
| 2. Hannah |
| 3. Purfleet Asylum |
| 4. Jack |
| 5. Never Sleep Again |
| 6. Wicked Game (Chris Isaak cover) |
: 23.14
| Buy other Crystal Street albums |
