Favorite Albums of 2017 Number 8 - Crystal Fairy

This was the first album that got my attention this year and it's held my attention the whole year. A super-group made up of drummer Dale Crover and guitarist Buzz Osborne of the Melvins, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez of At the Drive-In and The Mars Volta on bass, and vocalist Teri Gender Bender of Le Butcherettes, Crystal Fairy has a sound that encompasses all its parts and multiplies the experience into something else entirely. Their self titled debut album is hopefully not their last, as these musicians are among the most prolific with tons of different, vital bands between them. The experience they bring and the history they have together in other projects, makes this particular combination sound much more self-assured and cohesive than most super-groups. Each member brings a plethora of talent to the equation, but the dramatic, theatrical and psychedelic metal of this album is unlike any of their other projects.

The album kicks off hard with the aptly titled "Chiseler," which quickly chips away at any expectations you may have had. Throttling beats and riffs knock you out as Teri wails "In denial there is no end/Every monkey must transcend" and you're off. The album barely lets up, though the mood drops to more psychedelic and creepy at times. Everything comes together to build a sweaty, acid trip in a horror movie vibe with every track. The music, as is described in the song "Posesion," sucks you in with an allure of the forbidden: "Magic spell, messages from hell/All these things and more/Playing on my possessed stereo." And then the final track, "Vampire X-Mass" goes full tilt with images right out of a cult Italian horror masterpiece.

There really isn't much I can say about this album without dispelling the it's mysterious atmosphere, so I won't. Bonus points for giving us what I like to call a triple selfie in the song "Crystal Fairy" by Crystal Fairy on their album, Crystal Fairy.