Crystal Spiders – Metanoia

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · June 13, 2025

Crystal Spiders is a stoner rock three-piece from Raleigh, North Carolina. The current lineup features Brenna Leath on bass and vocals, Aaron Willis on drums, and Reid Rogers on guitar. The trio has a dynamic mix of heavy stoner metal, doom, NWOBHM, and heavy psych. Crystal Spiders have released a three song demo in 2019, 2020’s Molt, 2021’s MORIERIS, and their latest album, 2025’s Metanoia. Metanoia was produced by former Corrosion Of Conformity bassist Mike Dean (who has worked with the band before) and contains seven tracks around forty four minutes long. It was released on May 23rd 2025 on Ripple Music.

The cymbal four count of “Torche” starts Metanoia with a heavy crunching groove of hard rocking bliss. The chugging riffs of Sabbath proportions are met with Brenna Leath’s high register and powerful voice. The music has a strong fuzz-laden sound of metallic tones enhanced with excellent guitar leads and rhythms. It’s a great opening track that fuels the high octane riffage that Crystal Spiders are dishing out. “Blue Death” begins with clean guitars and leads into a slower doom melody backed with Leath’s elegant singing. The music builds into a heavier distorted wall of metal riffage that settles into the sonic atmosphere. The vocals express strong tones of emotion braced with harmonizing singing on the chorus parts. It’s a slower paced song that explores another spirited side of the band.

The third track entitled “Ignite” sparks the energy back up with a hot rocking doom resurgence. The fiery guitar riffing of Reid Rogers and punctuated drumming courtesy of Aaron Willis, vitalize the song’s momentum. It allows Brenna’s calculated bass lines and powerful vocals to glide with the music. It’s a lively song that dazzles with heavy riffing and fashions a vibrancy in the music. The next track “Time Travel” begins with airy sounds of psych with faint guitar noises before crushing into a heavy doom attack. The slow and fuzzy rhythms are decorated with compelling vocals and hard driving riffs. The powerful and dark tones are reminiscent of classic stoner doom with eloquent guitar leads mixed in. The song also boasts nice backing vocals on the chorus parts. Crystal Spiders dive into more intense dirge riding storms with the next track, entitled “Maslow”. Beginning with heavy discordant bass and hi hat, Brenna’s voice is soaring and incandescent as the musical brutality settles in. The lumbering riffs are doused with electrifying leads and howling vocals in this almost eight minute musical monologue.

The next track “21” amplifies the music back up with more expressive rock splendor. The riffs are absolutely stunning on this record and this track is no different. The sequence of powerful guitar solos with magnificent drum fills and pounding percussion alike are not to be ignored. Crystal Spiders are menacing and eloquent in their musical depth and delivery. The chameleon vocal prowess of Brenna’s singing is the magical elixir with these seven tracks, as exemplified in “O.S.”. This closing track to Metanoia is a classic doom metal monster. There is so much happening in this song alone, being the longest on the album, Crystal Spiders are destined for greatness.

This is my first exposure to the band and I am intrigued and delighted each time I listen to the recording. It’s definitely an album that gets better each time I hear it. My initial impression was that Metanoia was decent but I wasn’t yet convinced that it was as massive as people were raving about. However, I have since changed my stance and I think that it’s a brilliant composition of music. The buzz is really strong with this one and I am now convinced that it is rightfully justified.