The Burning

by Bradley TorreanoThe Crown makes death metal in its purest form, leaving out any experimentation or new ideas. Instead, the band focuses on the meat and potatoes of the genre: Satan, fantasy, and lots of chugging riffs. What is nice about the Crown is that the band does not indulge in the constant tempo changes that make many of its contemporaries unlistenable. Some melody creeps into certain tracks, most notably the opener, "Of Good and Evil." But it is definitely melody in the way that Entombed uses melody; it barely creeps into the barking vocals, and then mostly on the choruses. But, for the most part, this is solid, dependable death metal that doesn't beat around the bush. Fans of the Swedish death metal scene should enjoy this; it is reminiscent of the bands from that scene like Dismember and Unleashed. The Crown may not like to experiment, but the band still serves up a hearty plate of Satanic death metal.