Crowned In Terror

The Crown was originally formed back in 1990. In 1993, they recorded the famous demo Forever Heaven Gone, which was a dark and brutal demo sound for that time. Their second demo - Forget The Light -, also received attention from the underground. Today, this band has grown into better songwriters & musicians, while their sound is still very brutal, intense and some like to say The Crown is playing an evil thrash metal (which doesn't mean their are no melodies). After a deal with Black Sun Records and two legendary brutal CDs, The Crown signed with Metal Blade Records. Based on "hellspawned" rhythms, blasting drums, killers vocals and possessed lyrics, The Crown is described by many as a perfect mixture of the American and the Scandinavian sound. After their successful 4th album (Death Race King), they are back with Crowned In Terror. The first thing to mention is the arrival of Tomas Lindberg (ex-At The Gates), as singer Johan Lindstrand decided to leave after 11 years down the line. Tomas was already here on Death Race King, but only as guest vocalist. It is always difficult for a band to change vocalist ... as many bands have lost their soul in the process. On the other hand, having recruited ex-At The Gates singer should be seen as a realistic choice by the die-hard fans. At the end, die-hard fans worries could be resumed like this : Is it a good album or a crapy one ? Well, as far as I am concerned, this one is a killer. First of all, the production is wonderful compare to their last CD. After a "T2" introduction, The Crown delivers - from the first song until the last one - an evil thrash/death attack. There is no doubt these guys have done a lot of progress as the guitar riffs are more complexes, the arrangements are legions, the vocals are excellent and lots of songs have a "Formula One tempo" - in other words, f**king fast. But the unexpected guests on Crowned In Terror are the melodies and the drums rhythm, which fluctuate so many times (what a drummer !). The Crown walk on Soilwork's territory for sure, but they have preserved their evil speed/thrash trademark. Songs like House Of Hades, Crowned In Terror or Under The Whip are bombastic "speedish" arrows, while Drugged Unholy (4th track) is an hyper-melodic track in the pure Scandinavian tradition. If you like hate, velocity, melodies & wide-ranging drums, I highly recommend you Crowned In Terror. Time will tell if this one will become a classic. Their best album so far ... no doubt about it.