Album Review: Crystal Ball – Reset

Massacre Records – October 23^rd, 2026

Reviewer – Jason Hopper

I have listened to Crystal Ball since their beginning. Having seen an advertisement for the band on the back of a magazine cover, I purchased the CD ‘In The Beginning‘ without hearing a note.  It became one of my favorite albums of that year. The next few albums with original singer Marc Sweeney were terrific, but 2007’s ‘Secrets‘ was surprisingly disappointing. 2012 saw the addition of new singer Steven Mageney and a return to form with ‘Dawnbreaker‘, my second favorite album from the band. Every subsequent album saw diminishing returns, to the point where I didn’t bother to listen or purchase 2022’s ‘Crysteria‘.

With the band releasing the title track as a single, it piqued my interest enough to want to check out their latest release. I was hoping for an upward trajectory for the band. What I ended up with is a half strong album.

The first half is the weaker one. If people check out the album on streaming, I am afraid they’ll give up on the album before the halfway point. Every song after the opener did little to thrill me.  ‘I Wanna Know’ has an okay melody but a weak chorus. ‘Fire In Your Heels’ sounds too derivative of songs the band has recorded before. ‘Good To The Bone’ has a clunky, sing-songy chorus. Nothing was grabbing me and I thought this album was going to be the disappointment of the year.

Then the album kicks into gear with Track 7’s ‘Just Because You Are’. A fantastic riff from guitarist Scott Leach took me by surprise and had me banging my head. Nothing groundbreaking about the riff and melody, but very effective and exactly what I wanted to hear from the band.

While that song is a heavy sonic blast, ‘More Is Yet To Come’ immediately became my favorite track. A hard rock mid-tempo melody with metal tuned instruments will always get a rise out of me. The band delivers big time with this track. Listening to this track several times, I came to realize the secret ingredient here is bassist Cris Stone. His pulsing beat provides a solid ground for the rest of the band to stand on and riff off its structure.

Things slow a bit for ‘Valley of Tears’ and ‘For Better Or Worse’. While not as strong as the two songs that came before it (and could have benefited by having the tracks be separated by the two faster tracks), I still appreciated the structure of the tunes.

The album comes roaring back with ‘Virtual Violence’, a heavy, dark riff heavily influenced by Dio-era Black Sabbath. The down tuned chugging is a tried-and-true staple, and I can’t get enough of it. High energy rocker ‘Rotten To The Core’ closes the album in powerful fashion.  There’s a sinisterness to the lyrics about pride, lying, and sin. Steven Mageney has the perfect tonal delivery for this material and knocks it out of the park. It’s his best vocal performance on the album.

As stated earlier, I fear some will not give the album the exploration it deserves on streaming, which is how most music is consumed these days. If you’re reading this and a fan, I hope you like all aspects of the album. For me, outside of the opener, the album truly takes off at Track 7. If you’re like me and feeling nothing from the first few tracks, soldier on and you’ll find some solid tracks, up there with some of their best material.

Track list:

1. Reset
2. I Wanna Know
3. Fire In Your Heels
4. Good To The Bone
5. Revolving Door
6. Back To Square One
7. Just Because You Are
8. More Is Yet To Come
9. Valley of Tears
10. For Better Or Worse
11. Virtual Violence
12. Rotten To The Core

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