The Crown
Deathrace King

THE REVIEW

Do you want a precise, quick, and clear idea of what these The Crown are capable of? Skip the tracks of this Deathrace King to the 10th, turn up your stereo volume to the maximum, and get ready because in the next four minutes, your brain and ears will be subjected to the torture inflicted by the death/thrash assault of these five Swedes.

What you just heard was Total Satan (which also features an appearance by Mika Luttinen of Impaled Nazarene), but the result would have been the same if you had chosen Deathexplosion or I Won’t Follow or any other song on the album as your executioner. The Crown has been active since 1990 (and right around now, Possessed 13 is being released, celebrating 13 years of pure massacre by these death/thrashers) and under the name Crown of Thorns, they recorded a couple of albums, but the progressive emergence from the underground comes with the name change and the album Hell is Here. After that, we have this Deathrace King which...well, without beating around the bush, really kicks ass. Our guys offer a lethal mix of Swedish Thrash and Death metal, smoothed by the typical melodies of the bands from Gothenburg and surroundings (At The Gates above all), as we can hear very well in the granite riff of I Won’t Follow but, and this is where this band’s peculiarity lies, adding a ruthlessly punk/rock’n’roll attitude slightly à la Motorhead.

So it wouldn't be out of place to draw a comparison with Carpathian Forest who do the same thing on a base of icy Norwegian black metal. The technique displayed by each individual member is jaw-dropping, especially the pyrotechnic evolutions of the Tervonen-Sunesson duo who really know their way around their six-strings...and not just a little. Excellent growl/screaming by Johan Lindstrand and notable work by bassist Magnus Olsfelt, especially in the songwriting phase. All that's left to mention is the structure on which the devastating Swedish war machine stands...Janne Saarenpää (1.93m for 84kg). You often hear about such greats as Gene Hoglan, Hellhammer, Nick Barker, and company, but I assure you, after listening to the work of this kind of human drum machine, you’ll have some doubts about the actual greatness of his much more famous colleagues.

For those looking for a CD to keep them company during long winter afternoons and give a good kick in the ass when needed.