Review by Dominik on April 15, 2025.

The Crown's first full-length, back when they still operated under the moniker Crown of Thorns, now dates back a full three decades. That's thirty years of doing their thing in the murky zone between melodic death metal and thrash — a zone that apparently has its own climate and never quite made it onto the tourist map. Over those years, they've released solid, often underappreciated albums, always hovering just beneath the radar of broader recognition. Despite rarely releasing anything outright bad, they've never managed to escape the long shadow of their own existence.

Their albums get a handful of reviews, usually from the die-hards as the ratings show, but it feels as if the rest of the metal press is locked in some unspoken agreement to keep looking the other way. Maybe others experience the same inner conflict I do: admiration for the band's commitment and flashes of brilliance, weighed down by a chronic case of "almost there". Thirty years in, fairness (or maybe just fatigue) demands I try to articulate what's been bugging me about The Crown since the beginning — namely, their lifelong struggle with consistency.

Three things are painfully clear, and they more or less define my problem with the band. First, The Crown can write phenomenal songs — just remember "Death Of God" (back in the Crown of Thorns era), a true genre gem. Second, even in lesser songs, they often manage to squeeze in a killer section or two. But third, and this is where the mood sours — they're also fully capable of producing tracks so uninspired, so aggressively mediocre, that they almost feel like a dare. It comes across like a structural defect built into their musical DNA. For every killer track, there's somewhere one limping behind it, less gripping, less exciting, at times simply boring, like they're testing how far they can push their luck before we notice.

Crown Of Thorns, their latest release, is no different. The album is another mixed bag — one that gives you a cookie, then slaps it out of your hand. The Crown starts the album with what on TikTok would be labeled "click-bait"; so let's agree on a case of "listen-bait". It opens strong with "I Hunt With The Devil," which does what it says on the tin: rips and charges like Satan's own hound out of hell. There's some tasteful blasting, a nice thrash groove to keep your neck busy, and a chorus catchy enough to get stuck in your head longer than that last unpaid parking ticket. Things reach their peak early with "Martyrian", an atmospheric triumph. The guitars weave teasing, yet aggressive melodies that will haunt your sleep in the best possible way. The balance between the band's increased reliance on melody and the frontman's relentless vocal assault works brilliantly, finally offering the contrast they've always flirted with but rarely nailed. This is mature, confident songwriting — something you'd expect from a band celebrating its pearl anniversary.

"Howling At The Warfield" and "God-King" keep the energy high. The former kicks off with one of the most brutal moments on the record, like being hit with a medieval mace that's been carefully tuned to E minor, before melting into melody, and ending mid-song in a true reminiscence of heavy metal's roots without sounding cheesy. "God-King," on the other hand, is a straight-up banger — direct, hard-hitting, and totally self-assured. It walks into the room like it owns the place, drinks your last beer, and leaves. But the honeymoon doesn't last.

"The Agitator" shines with being a short blast of aggression, speed and intensity and is at the same time the embodiment of generic creation. It's as if the band gave ChatGPT a list of their riffs and prompted "make two minutes of something angry in The Crown style". It feels like a lost B-side from the Eternal Death sessions — a soulless clone of "Kill (the Priest)". Maybe it's nostalgia. Maybe it's filler. Either way, it fizzles. "Where Nightmares Belong" doesn't fare better. The song is patched together, missing the charm and variety of most of the other material. It's built from good ideas that don't talk to each other. The female vocals toward the end feel less like an artistic choice and more like someone desperately trying to tick a "variety" box or win a bet in a band meeting.

The production is spot on. Thirty years in, the band knows how to make things sound as tight and shiny as a newly waxed hearse. Everyone performs like seasoned veterans who could probably play this stuff in their sleep — which may or may not explain a couple of the filler tracks.

The European CD pressing adds three bonus tracks. While I'm usually in favor of bonuses, here they overstay their welcome, stretching the runtime to nearly an hour. Of the extras, "Mind Collapse" stands out, but at this point in the album, even good tracks start to blur. A little trimming would've helped the stronger material to shine brighter. Still, Crown Of Thorns is the best album The Crown has put out since Eternal Death in 1997. That's not faint praise — it's just the reality of a band that has always flirted with greatness but never quite made it past second base. But there's always hope. Maybe, just maybe, by 2027, they'll stop sabotaging their own brilliance and finally give us the masterpiece they've been hinting at for thirty years.

Rating: 7.9 out of 10, because excellence keeps constantly knocking, but sometimes it's mediocrity answering the door.

Review by Michael on September 22, 2024.

Swedish death-thrash legends The Crown are back with their 12th regular studio album. With this one, they go way far back into their own past simply using their previous band name as album title. Not only that but also the cover is kind of retro on Crown Of Thorns. Where the previous album cover was colorful and some kind of epic, what you can find here is some kind of dreary, apocalyptic black-and-white painting. Might this be some anticipation towards what will come out of my stereo? Well, not at all. You can be relieved that the Swedes only changed their sound in nuances.

Already the opener 'I Hunt With The Devil' is a sheer blast beat inferno with unerring death metal outbursts and furious vocals. This one is a straight continuation of 'Baptized In Violence' from its brutal predecessor Royal Destroyer from 2021. Hunting season is opened, so come and join them!! But apart from the substantial death metal influences, also some progressive, slight psychedelic parts crept into the song so that this one becomes a really interesting opener that makes you long for more. 'Martyrian' is another slight different track, at least at the beginning. First of all I thought this would turn out into a thrash song á la old Metallica but like a whirlwind this thought was blown away after a few seconds. Here you have the typical The Crown-riffing, melodic and repetitive but at no point boring. Okay, now really a not-so-typical one 'Gone To Hell' starts very creepy and dark and doesn't speed up. The decent to hell is a slow and gloomy ride, underlined with whispered words and because all good guys go to hell, also with some epic melodies and keyboard layers. Although this one isn't a typical The Crown track, it fully unfolds its effect - a cool new band anthem! And because The Crown never shied extremes, 'Howling At The Warfield' is a stark contrast to that. This is probably one of the most diverse and fastest songs on the album and doesn't leave any time to rest first. Blasting relentlessly forward, the listener is sent on the warfield to escape the rattling crossfire that comes from everywhere. But after a while some cool Maiden-licks and other NWoBHM influences appear in the background and make the wild hunt a little bit more multidimensional. With 'The Agitator' the guys did their “Reign In Blood” or “Flag Of Hate”, I guess. This one is brutal thrash kicking in your face. Of course the vocals go more into death metal but with the gang shouts and the fast and simplified riffing this one might also be originally done by some thrash legends from the 80s. Oh, and I forgot the Deicide-homage 'Churchburner'. Check the chorus and tell me that they didn't ehm borrow that from “Once Upon The Cross”. “Fear him, fear him…”. But don´t get me wrong, this one is another sinister death-thrash attack without anything to criticize.

I can assure you that you will be fully satisfied with Crown Of Thorns if you like the other stuff by the guys. Maybe here and there is the one or the other surprise that you might not have expected but all in all it is a very good new album. But you should check if you could get the version with the three bonus songs 'Eternally Infernal', 'No Fuel For God' (understandable considering the fuel price these days) and 'Mind Collapse'. They are all really cool tracks too and not like it happens often, some boring filler shit.

So let the hunt begin – see you on the warfield!

Rating: 9 out of 10 empty petrol canisters for God