Review by Chris Pratl on February 19, 2017.

Chicago's Drug Honkey is labeled an "experimental death / doom" project, and however aptly that description fits the band, there lies underneath a sincerely volatile wall of vulgarity and thickness that you can't help but be either impressed with or distracted by in its slow moving effort. I can almost guarantee that you've not experienced an album like this all that often.

The latest opus, Cloak of Skies opens with the swamp-like 'Pool of Failure,' a tempestuously slow moving musical fog that seems to just settle over your head like a haunted battlefield rife with activity, and the album only gets better from there. In my middle age I've heard more than my fair share of dark and brooding albums that either hit the inside mark or fall flat in a mire of "try-hard" patterns. Drug Honkey doesn't fall into the latter, seemingly forcing the obedient listener to become sucked into this gaping maw of 'psychadoomic' music that you can't help but be drawn to on a cerebral and emotional level. There is nothing happy-go-lucky or uplifting about this music; if I were forced to describe it, I'd simply say that it's an interesting setting for a mind in turmoil and bewilderment.

Vocalist Paul Gillis offers up a throaty, summoning tone that isn't your run of the mill death metal vocal. I used to think that Tom G. Warrior's vocal performance on Celtic Frost's Monotheist was about as frightening as it gets, but without all of the bravado and thin pretense Gillis' performance calls upon the darkest recesses of the stomach. It bounces between a mocking, distant calling and a bellowing proclamation that can also be found evenly in the track, '(It's Not) the Way.' It's here that the band's true taste for experimental musical psychosis really emerges as a permanent fixture. By the time they cascade into 'The Oblivion of an Opiate Nod' I'm not totally sure what I'm feeling...or why I'm feeling it. I only know it's something so interesting that I can't unhinge my mind from it. It's really been a long time since a CD has grabbed me like this, but it has, soliciting repeated listens.

All of that picturesque worship aside, let me just sum it up by saying that this is metal music for a very cerebral collective in that it will take you places you never realized you could go. Death metal, as a whole, provides the aggressive release with some (usually) very basic lyrics that resonate for a longer duration, whereas the other genres (i.e. thrash, speed, black, et al) usually rely on perfectly-crafted riff assembly and brief storylines over speedy galloping to engage and excite, and all of these factors make for some fine metal music all over the proverbial board. Drug Honkey, however, in its barest and most primitive form, pushes the boundaries with long, fascinating pieces of what you may think is a large puzzle awaiting formation, yet seems to just offer short and suffering stories without any real need for embellishment. Everything you need is offered in the music, that haunting melodious assault on the senses that doesn't stagnate. The fact that the lyrics are intelligent, dark visages of depression and searching only add to the majesty of the music herein.

I've not heard an album like this in a long time, and I've a feeling I won't any time soon until the band decides to once more open the portals of the diseased inner self to a wanting, appreciative audience.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Review by Michael on March 8, 2021.

Wow, I'm in for another big surprise in my old age. Last album I bought (and still own) from The Crown is now 23 years old. After the Hell is Here they could not really convince me anymore but with Royal Destroyer it's different.

After a short intro, The Crown hit out with 'Let The Hammering Begin' the first cool song. The guitar riffs remind me quite a bit of old Slayer in places and the drums set a furiously fast tempo.'Motordeath' is a pretty cool song title and from the structures of it, a typicalThe Crown song. 'Ultra Faust' (also a cool name, because Faust means fist in German), which starts pretty dragging, but in the further course increases in speed and from the vocals and intonation reminds me of David Vincent in "Illud Divinum Insanus" times. 'Glorious Hades' is almost an epic song already in which the guitars remind me of Bathory's Viking phase. A pretty calm mid tempo song that spreads great atmosphere.

The next two tracks are again typical The Crown songs, which offer no big surprises. 'Devoid of Light' is a homage to Morbid Angel at "Domination" times. The song structures and the vocals at the beginning sound absolutely like "Where the Slime Lives", but the song picks up speed little by little. 'We Drift On' is another slow song, which strongly reminds of old Metallica or Heathen from the guitar arrangements. A song that definitely creates goosebumps and leaves you slightly melancholic. 'Beyond the Frail' at the end is another highspeed song, which however does not beat through continuously, but offers a certain variety.

The question remains. Why haven't I really paid attention to The Crown in years, but find Royal Destroyer really compelling? I think it's because of the varied songs that don't sound the same as in the past, but offer some surprises. Cool disc!!!!

Rating: 9 out of 10