By: Richard Maw
Album Type: Full Length
Album Type: Full Length
“Royal Destroyer” CD//DD//LP track listing:
1). Baptized in Violence
2). Let the Hammering Begin!
3). Motordeath
4). Ultra Faust
5). Glorious Hades
6). Full Metal Justice
7). Scandinavian Satan
8). Devoid of Light
9). We Drift On
10). Beyond The Frail
11). Absolute Monarchy
The Review:
Ok, so the tracklist on the info sheet does not match how the files store in my media player- or on the band's Wikipedia entry... so track by track is out of the question here. However, information issues aside, what you really need to know is that this RIPS!
The Crown are Scandinavian and play, officially, melodic death metal. Don't expect the Gothenburg sound of In Flames on their later records though- this is feral and vicious. There are blast beats, thrash passages, solos and plenty of nasty noise.
You can pretty much pick out any track (running order be damned!) and enjoy- if you like Swe-Death. Advance track “Motordeath” is as good as any at a summing up- fast and furious with a huge dose of adrenaline. There is a surprising amount of depth over the course of the tracks here- “Ultra Faust” is dynamic and develops across its running time and elsewhere there is no shortage of slower pacing and, yes, melodic guitars. The song titles are uniformly excellent (“Full Metal Justice”! “Baptized In Violence”!) and there are nice touches that keep things interesting- things like the cowbell at the start (and later on) of “Scandinavian Satan” and the helter skelter riffage contained therein.
The record, overall, is a good mix of Entombed, Motorhead, The Haunted and even structural echoes of the best American thrash. There are no bad tracks, the production is great and you get ten tracks of high quality Scandinavian death metal. There is a lot to like here and I would urge all fans of the genre to give it a go- it's an engaging and weighty listen, without descending into dissonance or mindless blasting. Top quality death metal.
“Royal Destroyer” is available HERE
