Female-fronted symphonic/power metal band Crystal Gates have signed a deal with Wormholedeath for their debut album “Torment & Wonder: The Ways of the Lonely Ones”, which will be released on July 29th, 2022, via Wormholedeath worldwide.
“Torment & Wonder: The Ways of the Lonely Ones” is Crystal Gates’ long-awaited debut full-length album. A perfect successor to their previous “Shadowborn” (single) and “A Quest for Life” EP, this new work delivers 50+ minutes of Crystal Gates’ best compositions and most ambitious production to this date.
All trademarks from the genre are present but not overdone in a cliché driven manner. Accomplished through refreshing melodies and optimistic vibes, the album features fast power metal songs, mid-tempo catchy sing-along tunes, a beautiful ballad, some progressive-inspired passages, and a closing 12-minute epic that goes through all of it in one brave and colorful sonic adventure.
Beyond the music itself, the human endeavor of the search for meaning is touched upon in the lyrics from the perspective of different characters, exploring their loneliness and finding of solace in brief instants of clarity and awe.
Join Crystal Gates in the never-ending journey through life itself: an alluring sequence of moments filled with Torment and Wonder.
Crystal Gates is a Latvia-based symphonic power metal band formed in Montevideo, Uruguay in 2013 by Benjamín Machín and Carolina Pérez. After two years of writing, arranging, and recording, the duo released their first studio work, the six-song EP “A Quest for Life” in 2015. Recorded and mixed at Molecula Studios in Montevideo, and mastered by Mika Jussila at the legendary Finnvox studios, in Finland, the album was very well received by the public and specialized press. On the year of the release, Crystal Gates became a full band and played multiple shows in Uruguay and Argentina. 2015 concluded with great news for the band, winning the “Best National Album”, “Best National Cover Artwork” and “Best National Female Voice” awards in a national metal-specialized poll hosted by the prominent Uruguayan metal producer “El Lado Oscuro”.
The single “Shadowborn” followed in 2017, bringing more international attention to the band, and the opportunity to play bigger shows and festivals now also in Perú and Argentina, sharing the stage with bands like Epica, Xandria, Masterplan, Anneke Van Giersbergen’s “The Gentle Storm”, Blackoustic, The Agonist and Fates Warning.
Now, after working hard through challenging times, the band has finished their debut full-length album “Torment & Wonder: The Ways of the Lonely Ones”, their most ambitious effort to date. With bigger production, four video singles, an epic twelve-minute closing track, and the participation of renowned artists like Sebastian “Seeb” Levermann (mixing and mastering), Elisa C. Martin (backing vocals and arrangements), and Stan W. Decker (artwork), “Torment & Wonder” promises a bright future. The band also aims at new horizons by having Benjamín now settled in north-eastern Europe. Having recently signed a management and booking contract with Riga-based THP Production and a distribution deal with Italian WormHoleDeath Records, the first steps of a new chapter in their quest for global reach have already been firmly taken.
Tracklist:
1. The Ways of the Lonely Ones
2. My Glorious Fall
3. Alive for the Journey
4. A Lonely Dreamer’s Wish
5. The Stars Temple
6. Moonshine & Sorrow
7. Winter Ghost
8. Nightmares
9. Soul of Rain
10. Torment & Wonder
Line-up:
Benjamín Machín – Guitars
Carolina Pérez – Vocals
Guillermo Albano – Bass
Gastón Lorenzo – Drums
Juan José Leyton – Keyboards
Weblinks:
www.crystalgates.net
www.facebook.com/CrystalGatesOfficial
