The Crown – Crown of Thorns
Metal Blade Records
8,5/10,0
Brief:
For Crown of Thorns, the dynamic, ground-breaking follow-up to 2021’s Royal Destroyer, The Crown made distinctly different creative choices to ensure that the LP’s 10 songs would stand as a unique collection. “For me, Cobra Speed Venom and Royal Destroyer are like siblings,“ says guitarist Marko Tervonen. And while Royal Destroyer was termed a “a ridiculously catchy album,” The Crown wanted to “make sure that we would take a step forward, get a bit more out of the comfort zone on Crown of Thorns.“
The outcome of the revitalized process and personnel is evident in the first singles, “’Churchburner” and “Gone to Hell.” “’Churchburner’ starts out with a nod to “Postmortem” (Slayer) but then explodes into a quite different type of monster. It has a great groove and a tempo/beat that we don’t use that use that often, mostly in triplets,” Tervonen says. “’Gone to Hell” is a special song in numerous ways. “On our older albums there are many songs where the music is by “Olsfelt/Tervonen.” But that doesn’t actually mean that we wrote the song together,” Tervonen says. “This was the first time we wrote something together. [Founding bassist] Magnus [Olsfelt] showed me the basic riffs to the song on bass. We recorded it to a metronome and then I sort of took over. It’s the only song we did together before he left the band in 2022. “’Gone to Hell’ more mid-tempo with some almost post-punk elements. I love it and am super proud of it.” The guitarist laughingly welcomes fan feedback: “I expect to read a lot of ‘what is this soft song shit’ from people, otherwise I will be very disappointed!”
Crown of Thorns was mixed and mastered by Jonas Kjellgren (Black Lounge Studios), a longtime fan of the band. The end result is an album that’s extremely well produced yet possesses an energetic, raw approach. Another change is the guitar tuning: We decided to tune up to D from C,” Tervonen explains. “We played standard E tuning on our four first albums, then we slowly went over to D and from P13 and forward we tuned down to C. So now we have reversed the course and are climbing slowly back to E! But the lighter D tuning added so much better chugs and tones that we felt might be missing a bit on some of the latest records.”
Other stellar cuts include “Where Nightmares Belong,” which ends first with Johan screaming the chorus ‘Death Metal a capella’ before closing with a soft “lullaby style” female vocal courtesy of Elina. From there is epic album closer, “The Storm That Comes” which fits perfectly. Lyrically, Tervonen took the advice of another Swedish metal legend. “I remember years ago Tomas Lindberg (At the Gates) said that the words are already there, you just need to find them. I like that approach. A song like ‘Beyond the Frail’ or ‘We Drift On’ has a certain melancholic feel, so for those songs it felt natural to give the lyrics a more personal touch from within.”
It’s very few bands who have a revered and established career—The Crown celebrated their 30th anniversary in 2020 [their first eight years spent as Crown of Thorns]—yet up the ante continually. With 2018’s Cobra Speed Venom the band reached the same lofty heights as their 2002 landmark release, Crowned in Terror. And with the barbaric Royal Destroyer, and now, 2024’s powerful and unique Crown of Thorns, the metal vets rage with a rekindled fire and ferocity while honoring their roots. As Tervonen concludes of Crown of Thorns, “I guess every band needs to do a self-titled album at some point. So now we did it, our way.”
Tracklist:
- I Hunt with the Devil
- Churchburner
- Martyrian
- Gone to Hell
- Howling at the Warfield
- The Night Is Now
- God-King
- The Agitator
- Where Nightmares Belong
- The Storm That Comes
- Eternally Infernal (Bonus Track)
- No Fuel for God (Bonus Track)
- Mind Collapse (Bonus Track)
Main Focus Tracks:
- Churchburner
- Martyrian
- The Night Is Now
- The Agitator
Other Recommended Tracks:
- I Hunt with the Devil
- Gone to Hell
Line-Up:
Johan Lindstrand – Vocals
Marko Tervonen – Guitar
Marcus Sunesson – Lead guitar
Mattias Rasmussen – bass
Mikael Norén – drums
Comments:
The Crown pushes the boundaries of death metal with Crown of Thorns, a relentless addition to their discography that showcases a masterclass in aggression through ferocious riffs and pounding drums, creating an auditory assault that compels repeated listens.
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Selected Discography:
Hell Is Here – 1998
Deathrace King – 2000
Eternal Death – 2002
The Burning – 2002
Crowned in Terror – 2002
Possessed 13 – 2003
Crowned Unholy – 2004
Doomsday King – 2010
Death Is Not Dead – 2015
Cobra Speed Venom – 2018
Royal Destroyer – 2021
Crown of Thorns – 2024
Photo Credit: Daniel Johansson