(written by Islander)

Today, on the eve of its September 24 release, we premiere a full stream of Stargazer, the debut album by Crypt of Reason from Homiel, Belarus.

The road toward completion of the album was not an easy one. Five years after forming in 2008, the band released their debut EP Creation of Despair. But after completing the writing of their first full-length, the band’s main songwriter Pavel Minutin unexpectedly passed away in 2016.

Crypt of Reason ultimately decided to finish their work on the record that became Stargazer, and they have dedicated it to Pavel‘s memory. They introduce it with a line from Solaris, the fantastic science fiction novel written by the great Stanislaw Lem:

“Man has gone out to explore other worlds and other civilizations without having explored his own labyrinth of dark passages and secret chambers, and without finding what lies behind doorways that he himself has sealed.” Continue reading »