Well, for everybody that look at this that enjoys metal, you'd probably know that Crystal Lake (japanese metalcore band) albums "The Sign" (2015) and "True North" (2016) aren't available on Spotify, on various countries, like here in America (I'm from Colombia, but by what I know, that albums aren't avialable on the platform on EEUU and more countries). 

I consider this is a problem for the fans of the band, because of some aspects. At first, could be uncomfortable to the people have to mix listening the songs of those albums only on YouTube or platforms that host them, with listening the songs avialable on Spotify.

Another problem is that, beacuse of how limited are the songs of Crystal Lake on Spotify (that are just one EP (Cubes, 2013) , one original album (Helix, 2018) , another album of re-recordings of their first works (The Voyages, 2020), and some singles that have been released over the years), in my opinion, and don't let me lie, can turn a bit very boring listening the same 20 or 30 songs on repeat on the playlists, without a great variety of tracks to listen; this problem could be fixed releasing both albums to the rest of the world, specially considering that on those are some of the most popular songs of the band (like Prometheus, Omega, Six Feet Under, etc).

 Additionally, I consider that, if those albums were released internationally, the listeners, followers, the popularity, and specially the earnings of the band could increase considerably, thing that would benefit both the band members with their earnings, and the listeners for making them able to listening freely those albums on Spotify, and being able to add its songs to their playlists.

Now, the main problem about this is the distribution of those albums on America and other countries, this because the label that released them on these territories, Artery Recordings, was acquired by Warner Music Group, and subsequently disbanded, thing that difficults the possibility of releasing both albums, at least in short term. However, there's still possibilities that the albums can be released on these territories, if the band still has all the rights over these works, and their national labels allows them to doing it. The most obvious path to take is, releasing a remastered edition of the albums, this time through SharpTone Records, the current label of Crystal Lake on America.

This seems to be the most likely option for that this happen, however, there could be some problems, like the time where they could be released, considering that a remastered edition could be something that they would do for the anniversary of the albums (but considering that both albums were released between 2015 and 2016, it wouldn't be a very long wait to the date we are). Otherwise, we have to consider who owns the rights of the songs at these days, because both albums has the participation of former members of Crystal Lake (the bassist Teruki Takahashi, the guitarist Shinya Hori and the vocalist Ryo Kinoshita), therefore, the current band members, managers, and SharpTone, should contact with them to being able to release the work without any prohibition.

And also, we have to consider if Warner has the rights over the albums, since they acquired Artery, this process could take longer before the band could recover the distribution rights of the recordings. How it was said before, it's possible to release the album, but probably could take some time, if doesn't appears legal issues related to the distribution rights.

In conclusion, I consider that we have to make a call to Crystal Lake, for that they listen to their fans, and make us able to listening The Sign and True North on Spotify, without location issues or similar, not just because both are great albums very underrated, that the fans wants to have on the platform, but because with this, the band could grow more in popularity, and they could show to the public in a greater way. Let's wait if Crystal Lake speaks out about this, because this could help their performance in various aspects.

A respectful request for Crystal Lake and their fans, from an anonymous fan.