Customer Reviews

Possessed 13 (Dlx)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

On March 7th, Heavy Death Metal's The Crown, after reuniting with original vokillist Johan and releasing a badass 13th anniv. album, announced they were breaking up. Not because of any inner turmoil, (that left with Tompa), just that there was no money coming in (the reason Johan left after Deathrace). Poorly managed tours (which, along with merchandise, is where most musicians money comes from. NOT ALBUM SALES!) kept the band eternally paying bills, so the boys decided to try life outside The Crown. BEST OF LUCK, THANK YOU FOR KEEPING IT HELL!!
Okay, so they leave us with Possessed 13, 13 tracks (26 if you have the 2 disc like me) that kick serious ass, serving as a reminder of real heavy metal attitude. The production on this is heavy.
The songs allegedly are a mix of new ideas and reworked ideas from their demos (hence why the second disc has their 2 demos and rarities). Face of Destruction is probably the most standout track although I LOVE Kill Em All. The instru-metals rock too.
The second disc contains the first recorded song, Forever Heaven Gone and Forget the Light demos, an ASTOUNDING cover of a Bathory demo called Burning Leather and an alternate mix of Rebel Angel. I personally would like to have had the Slayer cover (Mandatory Suicide) and their version of Arise from a Sepultura tribute, both of which Ive never heard. The demos were later recrecorded and made up the bulk of The Crown's first cd The Burning. Not my favorite Crown material but cool to have as a Crown Completist or fan of early 90's swedish death metal.
REST IN PEACE OH CROWN OF THORNS!!!

When I bought this CD I knew that it would be good but I had no idea just HOW good it was. This is probably the Crown's best CD to date even slightly edging Deathrace King. I personally can't think of a more brutal thrash CD to come along in a very long time. This is better that Slaughter of the Soul and rivals even Reign in Blood. Real metal fans will be left wanting more. Metallica fans should just keep moving.

Johan's return is obviously a factor in this effort. How many bands re-record a previous CD to welcome the return of aformer member? (as it is reported that The Crown will re-record "Crowned in Terror" with Johan- not just redub the vocals; RE-RECORD the ENTIRE CD!) The energy from this CD is excellent. The songwriting is good, but the performance on this CD is absolutely amazing. Packaged with the bonus CD tracks, "Possessed 13" is a Metal Maniac Must Have!! Can't get it out of my CD player! I'm listening to it as I write, ready to jump into the PIT!! (Don't think my boss would like a Mosh Pit in the middle of the office). If you're reading this, two words- BUY IT!!

YOU 'TARDS AT AMAZON AND YOUR INGENIOUS QUALITY CONTROL DEPT. DIAMOND DAVE AND THE CROWN? OH, WELL, AT LEAST THOSE MARIAH CAREY ALBUMS ARE ALL CORRECT!

MORONS...

The Crown have returned with their most extreme album to date. This album is relentless, every single song is non-stop brutality. My favorite song is Morningstar Rising, it is the heaviest and most extreme song on the whole CD. If you do not buy this CD, you're missing out on a great masterpiece. The songs all have a morbid atmosphere to them . Other than the music, a plus is the artwork. The album cover looks like a poster to an old horror movie, which looks like something Rob Zombie would do.
I have the deluxe edition of the cd which contains their two demos and other unreleased songs. The songs are all brutal and genius, just like the songs on the album.
One final note, JOHAN IS BACK. Johan is the best thrash vocalist ever, he blows Tomas out of the water. Tomas has a good voice but it didn't fit The Crown's style, he belongs in a melodic death band like his former one, At The Gates.

YOU MUST BUY THIS CD, IT RULES!!!!

The Crown have returned with their original singer (gone for one album) on "Possessed 13", and the band has been infused with an energy that has been missing since "Deathrace King" (which was Johan Lindstrand's last CD w/ the band). The speed and power of the band on this CD is completely without match this year. While this is not the best metal CD of '03 (that honor belongs to The Haunted), it's VERY close. There is no doubt, however, that "Possessed 13" is the very best, heaviest thrash CD of the last few years. The only CDs that I can think of that are even close are either by Slayer or The Crown themselves.

From beginning to end, "Possessed 13" does not let up or slow down for a breather. The pace and brutality of this CD are unrelenting, and only true metal/thrash fans will be able to appreciate this brilliant release. I really hate to say it, but Scandanvian bands are kicking America's butt in the metal music area. The best US bands, Slayer, Lamb of God, Hatebreed, are excellent, but they cannot hold a candle to the likes of The Crown (Slayer is getting close, though, with albums like their last one).

Sadly, this will likely be The Crown's last thrash metal release, and "Possessed 13" may signal the end of the band in it's current incarnation. So enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity while you can because their days are numbered.

Highlights -- all tracks.

I don't know what it is about P13 that people are raving about. I guess it's a good Hard Rock album, but not a Death Metal Album or Hard Thrash like I'm used to when I think of The Crown. I really enjoyed the 2 previous releases much more. This album is slower and sounds like semi-fast paced Stoner Rock. P13 also gets pretty repetitive and boring in the middle and towards the end of the album. Tracks start sounding the same and the breaks become too predictable. Having Lindstrand back is good, but I also like the previous album with Lindberg. I guess it's really a toss up between the two. I say get Deathrace King and call it a day!

Great musicianship on this one! Great production, tight riffing, and thunderous rhythms abound. Minus one star for some dumbed-down, goofy lyrics, but still recommended.

This is the first album ive purchased from the crown and im extreamly impressed. Three words to describe this album- brutal, dark, and POSSESED,. This band has tons of talent, the songs are well written, quite catchy. Deserves every last one of those 5 stars above. Great death metal \m/

It should be painfully obvious to everyone by now that Tomas Lindberg should have just quit music after At the Gates broke up, as nothing he has done since then is worth a penny (okay, maybe Nightrage is worth half a penny). I was hoping to place the blame for Crowned in Terror solely on him, but unfortunately, I was mistaken. Bringing Johan back did nothing for this band.

I don't know why European death metal has gotten so stupid and predictable in recent years. My guess is that it has to do with its increasing popularity. Everyone is going wild about how all these bands are getting on MTV2 and Ozzfest and such, but so what? The 90's were a much better time for metal - the mainstream was dominated by crappy nu-metal while the European bands made amazing music with no hope of success in America. Now everyone from Children of Bodom to Archenemy are trying to jump on the metalcore bandwagon and show how tough and evil they are. Metal is the new Nu-metal. Gone is the melody, the epic feel, the poetic lyrics - in short, everything that made Euro-metal great - replaced with one distorted riff after another.

Good job, guys. If you hadn't broken up, you could have been right up there on the Ozzfest second stage with Archenemy yelling something like "Alright you motherf***ers!!! Are you ready for some f***ing thrash metal???" to a crowd of beer-guzzling idiots who probably think Clayman was In Flames' first album. Anyone who doesn't fall into the above category should just get Eternal Death and The Burning and hope that the rest of these bands follow The Crown's lead and break up before they wipe out all memory of European metal actually being good.