Crystal Lake: Here’s Johnny!
John Robert Centorrino has a lot to celebrate. Since joining CRYSTAL LAKE in 2023, he’s toured extensively across the world with the Japanese metalcore titans, taking in juggernaut slots at Knotfest Japan, Download Festival and Resurrection Fest to name a few. After all, there’s nothing quite like trial by fire.
While January marks the release of gigantic new album The Weight Of Sound, March will see them tear through Europe on a co-headline tour with fellow metalcore connoisseurs MISS MAY I, before jetting Down Under to support OF MICE & MEN in May. If anything, CRYSTAL LAKE puts your New Year resolutions to shame.
Despite solidifying himself as a fixture, this is John’s first time fronting an album with them. What lies before him is the chance to stamp his mark on a band with an already beefy back catalogue. While the introduction of a new singer is hardly a new concept it can lead to some understandable reservations from the core fan base. But if John was ever feeling the heat, he certainly wasn’t showing it. “You can’t join a band with this legacy and assume, you know? Or worry about living up to what they had previously, as a matter of fact, you almost have to do better.”
As he explains, the intention for the record was simple. He wanted relatability and connection with the CRYSTAL LAKE faithful. “I want people who feel like they have nobody to feel like you have us. Because when I was a kid and I had nobody, I had my favourite band. That’s what we’re here for.”
Album highlight and title track The Weight of Sound offers an admirable as it is vulnerable admission from the singer. Speaking openly, John admits while once upon a time he couldn’t get away from home quick enough. Nowadays, while he’s on stage demanding circle pits and wall of deaths from any madman willing to oblige, off stage he misses his home, his family and even his beloved cats. “Lyrically I wanted the album to read the diary. I want to share my life experiences and things I’ve gone through, things I am going through and connect with people emotionally.”
Weaved between the slamming riffs and soul ascending melodic guitar leads one would expect from a CRYSTAL LAKE record, John digs his teeth into ruthless themes of reckless drinking, tumultuous family relationships, and the overbearing control of religion. By showing as much as himself as possible and refusing to stay bogged down in a stagnant narrative, he’s forged a passage between him and the fans, inviting them to find a piece of themselves in the lyrics.
It’s these genuine insights that make you realise why the album is so impactful. John has meditated on his own turmoil and contemplated it in equal measure with his own growth. The willingness to offer brutal vulnerability along with the sheer ferocity CRYSTAL LAKE have under the hood is what pushes the project to new horizons. “We are CRYSTAL LAKE. There’s not fans, there’s a not a band, the whole thing is CRYSTAL LAKE. You come to that show, you stand in front of that stage. If you connect with us, you’re part of the team.”
John can’t praise his band mates highly enough. In his own words, YD (guitars), TJ (guitars), Mitsuru (bass) and Gaku (drums) are all perfectionists. The album was even delayed from August 2025 to January 2026 because they kept tweaking and polishing it. Once fans get a listen, they won’t mind being made to wait a little longer, as each track is a juggernaut in it’s own right.
Despite John killing it on his first outing and the rest of the band delivering the beloved herculean CRYSTAL LAKE sound. For good measure, they pulled the pin on a roster of mammoth guest slots and threw them into the mix. These contributions come in the form of Jesse Leach (KILLSWITCH ENGAGE), David Simonich (SIGNS OF THE SWARM), Taylor Barber (SEVEN HOURS AFTER VIOLET, LEFT TO SUFFER), Myke Terry (FIRE FROM THE GODS, VOLUMES), and Karl Schubach (MISERY SIGNALS).
Without overselling it, CRYSTAL LAKE have knocked it out of the park again. Which leads to a question most artists would be too shy or level headed to consider. John’s previously admitted that he wants to win a Grammy with the band. So does The Weight of Sound have what it takes? “I don’t wanna jinx anything, but I absolutely have been paying attention to Best Metal Performance for the past five/six years. And I feel like CRYSTAL LAKE can get a Best Metal Performance.”
Throwing out a few names on this year’s nominations, we see GHOST eyeing up the prize again, SLEEP TOKEN have blown the doors wide open with their world dominating merge of styles and even TURNSTILE have snuck into the metal category. When pressed on where CRYSTAL LAKE would sit in an ever-changing landscape, John looks the bull dead in the eyes.
“We rip live. I am not trying to sound like a cocky fuck. We are not better than anyone else, we are not some kind of pedestal band, do not take it that way. I have seen CRYSTAL LAKE before I was in CRYSTAL LAKE. I watch CRYSTAL LAKE on my phone after I’m in CRYSTAL LAKE. We are a lot of fun live and I think we have the balls to make that a capability. Maybe not win it, but I think we can get in that card.”
Some may call it arrogance, but ultimately when you’re fronting this band what choice do you have than to reach for the impossible? If The Weight Of Sound does anything it sees a well-loved band with a twenty three year legacy draw fresh blood and inject a refreshing shot of venom into the mix.
The beauty of CRYSTAL LAKE is they are constantly setting out to evolve and reincarnate into a whole new monster. As a new album cycle unfolds, some would cautiously steady the ship, but CRYSTAL LAKE proudly lift the burden of expectation and smash it to smithereens.
The Weight of Sound is out now via Century Media Records. View this interview, alongside dozens of other killer bands, in glorious print magazine fashion in DS126 here:
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