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Second album in the bizarre Equirhodont epic, "Black Crystal" is even more oddball than its predecessor. It takes this album a bit longer to get going, as there is the required intro narration, then the seven-minute-plus "The Return", which is a beautiful song, but almost entirely acoustic.

Finally things get kicking with the catchy "Power Of Crystal", which has a hypnotic chorus you will not stop singing for days. The first time you listen to this album, you keep waiting for it to start getting heavy, but after that you are just mesmerized by the subtle melodies at work here, and you don't want to skip anything. So while "Black Crystal" may be less heavy and aggressive than the already rather laid-back "Equirhodont Grandiose Magus', it makes up for it with haunting melodies and even more involved songwriting, and is every bit as good.

Equirhodont are not for everyone, but if you like the more mellow and melodic bits of the more recent Root albums, then this is something you should certainly check out if you can find it. This is the kind of album you listen to the first spin while shaking your head and saying 'what the fuck?', but then a few spins later you know every song by heart and you can't imagine there was a time when you didn't. Strange, affecting, groundbreaking, singular and iconoclastic. That's Equirhodont.