Customer Reviews

Crowned in Terror

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

With thrash originators like Metallica, Slayer, Sepultura, and Megadeth having long since modified their sounds (I'll avoid using the word "sellout," as that is a matter for another discussion), The Crown stand poised to lead the genre through the new millenium. "Crowned in Terror" is an unbelievably intense and well-constructed album from this Swedish outfit. The ripping riffs and blastbeat drumming that open the title track after a brief intro promise a roaring good time, and the album never fails to deliver. Tomas Lindberg's voice hasn't changed much from his "Slaughter of the Soul" days with At the Gates, but he seems more committed than ever to lacerating his larynx to please the crowd. The guitars pile on one devastating riff and blazing solo after another, relentlessly pounding out aggression. The rhythem section is among the tightest I've ever heard, led by Jaane Saarenpaa's mindblowing precision and variety on the drum kit. But perhaps most importantly of all, this album is an unmitigated blast to listen to. The Crown imbue their thrash with a fun and energetic spirit that hearkens back to the days of such albums as "Kill 'Em All" (Sure, I was only four in 1983, but I can imagine). However, despite that fact that music like this has been done numerous times before, the Crown take their influences and turn them into a sound that is all their own. In a thrash genre that has now existed for about two decades, they are retro without being derivative, and that may be their most remarkable feat of all.

I just bought this cd today and I love every song! From start to finish this cd smokes! That's a rare feet in my eyes. I am new to the death/black metal scene, and this is by far the best cd I have bought (Death's "the sound of perseverance" a close 2nd.).
If you are just getting into this type of music also, and want something that will blow you away!! Check this cd out. I promise you want be disappointed.

This album never fails to deliver, very brutal, just one hell of a killer record

No, this is not like Slayer. And no this is not entirely like At the Gates. It is far more brutal then either of those bands, and Tomas' vocals are more intense then his days in At the Gates, perfect, if you ask me. Yes, it does have some At the Gates sounding stuff, becuase of course they are both Swedish bands. Although that is so, it actually has an even divide of Gothenburg and American sounding parts, while the American parts are not as "grindy" (as I put it), as most American death metal. All of the songs are some what "melodic" sounding ... exept for "Death Metal Holocuast" which is an all out American style death metal song.

With all that said, this is a phenomenal peice of work. No filler. No half baked songs. This is an entire album of brilliantly blended Swedish and American fury. This CD still kicks my butt every time I put it in the CD player. The drummer is insane, though he tends to repeat his fills a lot, but we'll let that slide, becuase the fact that he can do steady fills in between his high speed (and always precisely on time) blast beats, is good enough. The guitar work, is very good, switching on and off between the American leads, and the "melodic" Gothenburg leads.

Once again, I give this the highest recommendation, it's a great CD, no filler, just great death/trash the whole way though ... buy it!!!

When I listen to albums like this, I'm really proud of being a metal fan...This album is awesome.The vocalist is Tomas Lindberg(At The Gates, Grotesque, Infestation, LockUp, Disfear, The Great Deceiver, Skitsystem) most known as "Tompa". He doesn't match his work in At The Gates 'cause he doesn't force his voice that much, but he does a great job in this album...The Crown is pure chaos...Violence, aggression, speed and chaos combined in a perfect mixture of death metal (what would you expect from songs entitled "Death Metal Holocaust" or "Crowned in terror"?). The Crown plays death metal, that can be called sometimes melodic, or sometimes just pure old-school death metal...But these guys rock. This album is really intense and dinamic. They combine AtTheGates, Slayer, Motorhead or even faster and extreme, with lots of fresh, new and intelligent ideas, making the difference with bands of the same style. Lots of combinations of riffs, different drum speeds, cool solos, chaotic vocals (combined together with a great sound!) won't let you rest while you're listening to this album. It seems these guys have their finger on the pulse of heavy metal. This album rocks!! For any heavy metal fan!!!

Quite a while ago, I bought "Crowned In Terror" without hearing anything off of it first, and without even know for sure what kind of music The Crown played. But once I popped this disc in and heard the second song (which is the first real song; the first track is just an orchestral intro), I was absolutely hooked.

This album has everything I love about thrash/death/melodic death metal: catchy, almost brutal songs composed of big, lumbering riffs, quick, cracking drums, and gruff, raspy (somewhat high pitched) death metal vocals. (Original vocalist Johan Lindstrand sat out during the recording of this album, The Crown's fifth, and the frontman from the godly, seminal melodeath band At The Gates stepped in, in his place.)

The title track (which is the aforementioned second track, but first real song on here) combines deft, walloping drums beats with crushing riffs. "Under The Whip" starts out with a catchy, skipping rhythm and powerful, machine gun double bass drumming, but then segues to become a strong, churning (almost steamrolling) rhythm. "World Below" is another highlight (it features fast, chug and churning guitar hooks and a winding, ascending and descending solo), as is the blisteringly fast eighth track, "(I Am) Hell", which boasts a fiery, almost blinding guitar onslaught. One can't help but pay special attention to the three, back-to-back guitar solos on "Death Is The Hunter," and the album closer, "Death Metal Holocaust", is an ultra heavy rocker which is backed by buzzsaw riffing and very busy double bass drumming.

But "Crowned In Terror" isn't all-out mayhem. "The Seed Of Darkness" features well-placed spots of clean (almost spoken word), backing vocals, and songs like "Out For Blood" are more mid-paced and restrained. Plus, of course, this disc has an abundance of melodic guitar solos (the solos on here sometimes sound more like it's from a keyboard than a guitar), so several (maybe even most) of these songs have at least a semi-melodic edge to them. And, lastly, there are a few classical guitar interludes which were probably thrown in to break up the monotony without killing the record's momentum.

Admittedly, "Crowned In Terror" will probably only appeal to you if you are already a rabid fan of this genre. But if you are, this is a must-buy. It will undoubtedly have you saying it's the best album At The Gates will never make again, and The Crown are definitely a front-running candidate in the "kings of latter-day thrash" race.

Well, whenever I heard that The Crown had grabbed the great Thomas Lindberg of At The Gates-fame, I just had to hear their new album "Deathrace King" was a good album, don't get me wrong, but it really didn't leave much of an impression on me. After I had heard the first song "Crowned In Terror", I was in awe. The music is really a step-up, the production is superb, and the musical influences and talent really shine though...I would say this a very good mix of At The Gates, Motorhead, Venom(Just look inside the lyrics booklet!), Bathory, Possessed, and the classic flashy guitar work of Iron Maiden. This album just full out bleeds Metal. Nothing but guitar solos, double bass, blast beats, and songs about alchohol-induced frenzies and the worship of all dark and Satanic things in life....THE WAY METAL IS MENT TO BE!!! Thomas Lindberg really belts the very killer lyrics. Marcus Sunession, and Marko Trevonen rip through your mind with their very amazing leads and guitar solos. Magnus Olsfelt really lays down a very good bass mixture. Drummer Janne Saarenpaa is whipping out some very good multi-layered, drumming skills here. I just recently saw these guys way back in April...and they absolutely annihilated the whole crowd. Their energy is even more amazng live than on the album itself. This group really does make that old-school material sound totally new. They are classic without being retro, and is definately a new flame in the Swedish Metal scene. By far one of the best albums of 2002. My personal favorite song picks...ah to heck with it...this whole album is just so friggin' good...

"Death Metal Holocaust - Death is the crown of all"

will say this, when it comes to metal, the European scene and bands are a few years ahead of us here in the states. Proof positive of this is the explosion in the past 10 years that has come out of Sweden. That scene itself, has produced many of death metal and metal's more extreme and experimental acts. One of these is The Crown. Going strong for more than 10 years, The Crown's newest Metal Blade release, "Crowned in Terror" is sure to add to this band's legendary status in the underground metal world.

The Crown fuses a ton of metal styles together to form what should be the definitive metal sound for years to come. In each song on "Crowned in Terror" you can hear elements of old school speed metal, the blast beats of death metal and even some of the melodic techniques of the old British Metal bands (ie. Priest, Saxon, Iron Maiden). That's what makes a band like The Crown work. They work every style and influence they have into their songs, not afraid to try different things.

The speed of this CD is phenomenal. "Crowned in Terror" is your first taste of the music on this CD and it sets the mood for the next 42 minutes: Straight out blast beats and thrash picking, pinch harmonics, dives, some serious throat action and muted down madness. The disc is like a warehouse of riffs. The sheer volume of riffs in each song is one reason this album is fun to listen to. You never get bored. I swear there has to be about 500 parts to each song (slight exaggeration) and the beauty is, none repeat or rip each other off. The leads and time changes are super smooth, which can sometimes be hard when writing such technical metal, but The Crown do it with ease.

While the popular American metal scene is loaded with bands who care about image and hair color first, the Euro Metal scene is loaded with bands like The Crown: bands who make the music the first priority and play real metal, not Nu Metal or whatever it's called. We have our share of band's like The Crown in the states who do a great job, we just need more like these guys. "Crowned in Terror" should be the standard for which metal is held to. Real metal is here and never forget what real metal, not radio metal sounds like.

A masterpiece filled with brutal assaults of death / thrash metal, with amazing lightspeed solos, melodies and spectacular production.
I like this a lot, really, highly recommended if you like Death Metal / MeloDeath!

Well, thats all I have to say about that! Awesome CD. I do not actually have THIS CD, but I do have "Crowned Unholy," which is this entire album along with a DVD with a live performance from Karlsruhe,Germany (which is great if you want a DVD that you will watch nonstop all the time) All of the songs are great but my favorites have to be "Under the Whip" "Death is the Hunter" and "Death Metal Holocaust." Either ways, if you want the DVD or not, this album is chock full of death/thrash that will leave you hurting and thirsting for more. So BUY IT ALREADY!!!