THE CROWN - Doomsday King CD
Century Media Records
Century Media is starting to resemble a professional sports team with their recent actions. They're not happy with the performances of their younger players (yeah I know who would?). So the label has gone out to hire on veteran free agent bands who had a heyday around 10 years ago. On here we have the semi-new CROWN in that everyone from the past is back except original vocalist Johan Lindstrand or even their seminal behind the mic stand-in Tomas Lindberg (AT THE GATES, DISFEAR). Doomsday King introduces everyone to new vocalist Jonas Stalhammer whose been straining his vocal chords with a number of bands prior to this. But even with the new blood at the helm this sounds just like THE CROWN of old. To me that's not really a bad thing. Someone needs to check for a pulse or at least hold a mirror up to the noses of these bands before they pull over the shrouds and close the box. They're not dead but just in a creative coma till a new trend or in their case a revival comes.
Years ago someone once described THE CROWN as Sweden's version of SLAYER. I never really followed up that suggestion with a thorough examination but after listening to this new one I'm now in agreement. I'm not just saying that because the second cut on here is "Angel of Death 1839" either. It's a pretty damm good song too. The whole release reeks of SLAYER meets AT THE GATES in Stockholm slam pit which begs the question is this geared more towards deathcore? Songs like "Age of Iron" and "Soul Slasher" are straight up thrashers with Stalhammer providing a decent death growl from tortured tonsils. That guitar crunch provided by Marcus Sunesson and Marko Tervonen sounds incredible. The drum triggers could drive you insane though. The longer cuts like "The Tempter and the Bible Black" are a welcome slow down between pummels. That's where the band shows off their melodic death leanings. I'm sure they'll go over well at huge festivals. Doomsday King is a decent release for about two listens and then it gets on your nerves.
Label: http://www.centurymedia.com
MySpace: http://myspace.com/thecrownonlineswe
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