The Crown
“Crowned in Terror”
(Metal Blade)
Before I review this I want to say that almost every press kit and one sheet I receive for extreme European metal bands that I have to review mentions that amongst their ranks is included a former member from At The Gates. Essentially what this means to me thus far is that their must have been like a kajillion guys that have at one time either been in At The Gates or maybe just stopped in and took a piss at their house. The Crown is no different; their vocalist is former At The Gates vocalist (assumedly one of At The Gates’ seventeen hundred septillion singers) Tomas Lindberg who, by the way, has a great style reminiscent of a sore-throated Mille from Kreator in both his delivery and melody lines. The rest of the band is just as rock solid as well having been playing together and tightening their nuts up for over ten years. They band feels firmly in place and ready to break through to many more ears. Their appeal is mostly to fans of fast, brutal metal, but they are unafraid of incorporating melodic hooks and out and out punk rock drum beats. Via these minor cross-genre incorporations The Crown makes each song stand apart from the others on a deceptively diverse album that stays within the sometimes overly claustrophobic parameters of death metal. Check these guys out, you’ll be glad you did.
