Doomsday King

Having come to The Crown through recommendations, I was rather surprised to behold 'Doomsday King'. It wasn't that I expected the band to sound slower or gentler or less frantic, it was just that I hadn't anticipated something so unrelenting as this. Admittedly, some of those recommendations do seem a tad wayward now, such as their comparison with The Haunted, who of course were never death thrash - maybe melodeath thrash at most. This kind of unreconstituted heaviness, then, I was not ready for.

If the previous namedrop has thrown you rather off the scent of The Crown's sound, then allow me to rebalance it by plopping Krisiun on the other scale. There is some of the catchily furious riffing that The Haunted made their trademark, but there is also plenty of heads down heaviness that will satisfy those who sometimes wonder if Slayer is for pussies. A couple of different styles go into the melting pot for 'Doomsday King', not least Krisiun's mountain-sized portion of meat and potatoes riffing and blasting that constitutes more than a third of this opus. The album heaps on some tender fragments of the aforementioned thrash overlords Slayer, who crop up more in the details of solos and atmospheres than the main course, although a few nifty thrash breaks betray their influence. There are two more words that describe The Crown's sound as of 2010: the first is "modern", which is to be expected, since the band were returning after a lengthy absence; the second is "doomy", which might be unusual for this kind of music, though makes sense when the crushing opening of the title track and the main riff from 'The Tempter and the Bible Black' ring out like a king's herald.

The modern streak in The Crown's sound may come as a result of these cumulative influences, but is evident in the production and the drumming too. Compared to the band's first few albums, a distinct progression in recording quality is notable (as it should be), though the new production adds extreme power and brutality to the sound, whereas the sound on 'Deathrace King' was more notably given over to speed and nuance, not heaviness. In 2010, everything is geared to sound as big and broad as possible, right from the concrete guitars to the butt-clenching vocals. The guitars actually sound most potent when playing in the slower doomy style, but gain a slightly sharper edge in the thrashier songs such as 'Age of Iron' that allows them to bite nonetheless. Like an ogre covered in tar rising from the darkness, the bass is thick and unsubtle, usually fattening everything up into a trendier sound than the 90s incarnation of this band could ever hope to achieve. The drumming, however, is my sticking point. This is frequently overdone from my point of view, with too much blasting and fullness of sound for this kind of mix. If the drums didn't sound so cavernous, it might be okay, because then they wouldn't counteract the guitars so much and obscure the details in the riffs. I say they sound cavernous, by which I mean they sound like they are emerging from a cavern - a very deep sound, at the bottom of the mix, without much distinction between different parts of the kit. This muddiness makes everything a little too brutal for its own good, since the guitars are often played at low pitch, meaning the faster bottom-string riffs all sound alike.

That said, there's still a lot to enjoy about 'Doomsday King'. There are a lot of riffs and most songs have a few that hit harder and stronger, plus the solos are always welcome when they appear. 'Age of Iron' transforms from flat-out thrash into a brilliantly clear melodeath guitar feast for about a minute, while 'Soul Slasher' makes the best of the modern chug and fill technique, developing into a groovy deathride with some of the album's best fills. As previously mentioned, the slower numbers work especially well, particularly the repeating harmonic riff that appears halfway through 'Desolation Domain', which is catchy, melodic, and absolutely flattening. I do wonder if one of the longer tracks that close 'Doomsday King' could possibly have been cut, since six minutes in this style - whatever atmospheric inclusions are attempted - becomes a bit wearing and makes the whole feel long, even at just 45 minutes. Slightly more variety or clinical finish would have been welcome, but The Crown successfully made the transformation from their earlier work to a place in our modern world.

The Crown have made their triumphant return after a seven year absence. The musicians have all returned, but with a new vocalist, Jonas Stalhammar, formerly of God Macabre. The Swedish group had previously created their own sound through their brand of hyper-frenetic thrash/melodeath metal. This album is a return of that sound.

The first thing you notice is that the speed is definitely back. There is a bit more melody and harmony this time around, but The Crown still play fast and furious. Riffs fly by at a mile a minute and take no prisoners. The Crown does occasionally slow down a little bit and inject some dark atmosphere into their sound. This does come as a welcome change since a high intensity riffing speedfest for an entire album can get a little old. The Crown know this and have changed pace at some point on all of their albums for a little fresh perspective.

The new vocalist sounds great within the confines of the band's sound. He possesses a harsh screaming vocal style that is very similar to the band's other vocalists. He sounds right at home with The Crown.

The Crown has not missed a beat with this album, even though it has been seven long years since their last release. The album does bog down a little bit as it goes on and some of the songs do start to sound pretty similar to each other, but this is definitely a welcome release from a band that did not stick around long enough before.

I am very impressed with this album. The Crown has finally returned and they have not lost any of the edge that they previously had.

A decade after The Crown made their 'definitive' statement of fuel injected death/thrash, Deathrace King, they have yet again surfaced their royalty in Doomsday King, which feels as if the years have passed almost without skipping a beat. Of course, those beats did actually pump at the heart of the band, and they cycled through a number of vocalists like Tomas Lindberg (At the Gates) and their original frontman Johan Lindstrand (now with One Man Army and the Undead Quartet), producing decent efforts like Possessed 13 and Crowned in Terror, but despite the presence of yet another vocalist here in Jonas Stålhammar (God Macabre, Utumno), the material feels thematically close to their turn of the century blitz.

The rest of the lineup here is retained from the band's heyday, after transforming from the more melodic/black metal oriented Crown of Thorns. Janne Saarenpää still hits like a motherfucker, Marcus Sunesson and Marko Tervonen focus the impact of their riffing like artillery fire, bassist Magus Olsfelt plodding along, loading up more shells into the gunnery. A lineup this tight and well acquainted have no other option than to execute a solid beating upon the listener, and to that extent, Doomsday King delivers adequate bruises. Doomed tolling and doomier guitars herald the title track, as thick chords broil towards the thrash and thrust of the inevitable blade storm the band are packing in their imaginations. Stålhammar proves very quickly that he is the right person for this job, with a death metal bark closer to Lindstrand than Lindberg, and then we are off to the races with the Slayer influenced (in both title and riffing) "Angel of Death 1839", a volley of brutality that should get get the windmills swinging in the pit.

The rest of the album shifts between two poles. The stupendous, manic thrashing of "Age of Iron", "Soul Slasher" and "Desolation Domain" are all yet again heavily influenced by Slayer, only with this band's thick death metal drive and a dash of the Swedish death of At the Gates, Entombed and so forth. Then you've got your longer, more fleshed out tracks like "From the Ashes I Shall Return" and "He Who Rises in Might, From Darkness to Light", both of which have a number of superb riffs, and atmosphere to boot. "He Who Rises in Might..." comes the closest to sheer death metal brutality, and the drumming here should be pointed out as particularly superb, especially the bridge madness. I feel like my sole favorite on the album would be "Through Eyes of Oblivion", a faster piece with some exceptional riffs that really got the blood flowing through me at an excited pace.

There are not a great number of riffs on Doomsday King which stand out to memory, even after successive spins, but as a whole the record more or less delivers everything this band stands for. As a functional ass kicking, it's easily the measure of their previous two full-lengths and deserves to be placed alongside Hell is Here and Deathrace King as an example of the band's better work. The production is sheer hostility, perfectly married to the warlike riffing as tiny threads of angry melody erupt at the edge of perception. The album is superior to the latest from fellow Swedes Witchery, and it offers no apology in handing you your ass, but the musicality is more violent than durable.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com