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.

The songs on “Crown of Thorns” are fierce death metal anthems that combine metal, melody and an anarchic vibe. “Churchburner”, with it’s little reference to Slayer, was the lead single of the album and is a roaring song. Death metal made in Sweden, this is what “Churchburner” stands for. It’s a brutal track with some clever breaks and an infectious groove.

Equally heavy but with a bit of a different expression comes “Gone to Hell”. A throbbing bass and the lead guitar kick off a song with a punky vibe. It’s one of the moments on “Crown of Thorns” when melodies become important without compromising the heaviness of the album.

Merciless when it comes to speed is “The Agitator”. The song is a less than two minute sledgehammer that hits you right in the face. The counterpart to such a pounding tune is “The Storm That Comes”. The title refers to the approaching storm that The Crown musically depict. Starting quietly, the song slowly builds up. You can feel the storm coming as you listen to this tune, which reflects the epic nature of this album. Sticking to the basic pattern, the song still offers enough versatility and twists to make it entertaining from start to finish. It is a very solid way to end an album that also includes three bonus tracks, depending on the format.

If you’re a fan of The Crown, there’s enough here to enjoy and remind you of what you love about them. Yet, in their heavier sound, the melodicism has been sacrificed for all-out speed, while in the slower material, they’ve resorted to unnecessary bells and whistles that give Crown of Thorns a slightly artificial feel. At its best (“I Hunt with the Devil” and “Churchburner”), Crown of Thorns is straight-up fun. But highlights aside, Crown of Thorns just feels a touch tired and The Crown feels like a band searching around for new inspiration. If you’re new to The Crown, this isn’t the place to start. ... See More

Isolert from Volos Greece reach this exact point in their recording career: their pivotal third full length. At the same time, they are just a breath away from closing their first 10-year life cycle (in 2025). There are, of course, some basic characteristics and facts on their way to " Wounds of Desolation" , which we are obliged to understand and take seriously, in order to realize that at this very moment and with this very specific release, black metal history is being written !

There is a key element in the sound of this band which follows them from that first “Isolated Soul” demo of 2015 and which in “Wounds of Desolation” is the ultimate expression of maturity (identifying gradually and evolving each of their releases): Isolert with absolute awareness, they create their music in the context of a shadow, standing between two worlds. On the one hand, the fabric of the second 90's black metal wave and on the other, the modernist upsurge that dominated Europe in the 00's, opening the gap and reaching black metal as an idiom - regardless of the stylistic direction - even more at the ends. From the wonder of “De Mysteriis”, to the discordant obsessions of Deathspell Omega and the sonic drama of bands like Gaerea , Isolert following their own path craft a masterpiece.

They insist on pompous, rough riffing as a base, putting razors in the corners of the tracks. Of course, they will choose the railway formula of development in terms of their guitar themes, when they want to give space to the elegiac chant of rage set up by the vocals, demanding and taking a dominant role as in an Ancient Tragedy.

In their more hypochthonic riffing that usually coexists with more cavernous growls or a vocal approach of detached despair, Isolert put their icy face forward. They go into the process of fragmenting their own melodies and set up these glass themes - which have Manes ' blessings anyway - leading the listener even into a state of momentary anxiety. They knife the harmony just enough to turn in the very next second to a redemptive theme of pure darkness.

Let's not forget, since the conversation brings it up, that essentially Isolert with a few more courageous ones (see Human Serpent) established the above elements as a new path in the Greek black metal scene of the 10's and now they are simply evolving them.

The most mature and complete album of Isolert is a fact. The above is not only about their source of inspiration or talent. It's mainly about the diversity of the material and the way the band has set up and developed their tracks with each individual element being at the absolute right point in each composition.

All of the above will not be noticed during the first listens, because the album will take you like a storm and tear you to pieces. You as a listener have to master it, make it your property and then you will understand that we are dealing with real extreme art here.

The disc's exemplary production must be highlighted as the ultimate strong card here. Don't ruin your listening experience by listening to it on a portable device. Let it play on headphones or speakers. Give a base to the dynamics of the drums, the clarity of the guitar and the incredible volume of the material.

www.goldenrules.gr ... See More

It was immediately apparent from the first tracks released as singles for "Endtime Signals" that something both old and new co-existed in the new compositions. It started with " The Last Imagination " which reminds everything of a good piece of Dark Tranquility - aching vocals, sad melodies, a power that springs deep from some existential void. Soon, " Unforgivable ", much more aggressive and carrying memories of a particularly early period of Dark Tranquility also appeared to fill us with questions about where the new identity of the band is headed, but also to fill us with interest. Icing, or rather icing on the cake came to close the preludes " Not Nothing " to hit us directly where it hurts, reminding us what Dark Tranquility know how to do well. With my opportunity to enjoy them at Brutal Assault with the current lineup (plus Peter Lyse Karmark on lead guitar) but also the three new compositions shortly before the release of the new record, in a condition of heavy rain and immediately after the unimaginable appearance of Abbath, that cleared up a lot about how I feel about this record.

First let's say that Dark Tranquility is one of the few bands that could keep alive an overly tired audience that has already endured what I described, and they did. Then, the new pieces come together as if they came out of the same period as their material that comes from every temporal and stylistic expression of their past. But mostly, it's really the overall quality of "Endtime Signals" as a record that wins you over and keeps you coming back to this curse-ridden familiarity. A black embrace, it keeps alive the feeling that Mikael Stanne with his lyrical and interpretive skill could always make you feel hope in the gloom, but fully aware of the latter. Really, I think we praise many Scandinavian death figures over the years, but somehow we forget about Stanne. This man has not lost an iota of ability and talent in his voice over the years. It's as if as he gets older his brutal vocals get wilder and the clean ones get sweeter. It's as if the angel and the demon inside him instead of getting decay, get experience like in tabletop gaming terms. There couldn't be a more typical example of "Wayward Eyes" for this particular finding.

Guitars on the other hand, were a big gamble to fall into the hands of mainly one person. Nevertheless, samples like "Neuronal Fire", "Drowned Voices", "Enforced Perspective" and later "A Bleaker Sun", leave you with tracks that you thirst to experience live. You feel through the melodies their anger at the failure, the non-existence, this point we have reached. Other times, sadness and depression win out. After all, the whole theme of "Endtime Signals" is what hurts the most especially with the help of this destructive concept of synchronicity. It's heartbreaking to hear "One Of Us Is Gone" when Stanne mouths the words in his melodious voice:

" These are the longest hours
Not knowing what time will grant us
These are the words that compose the dark
This is now where we are
And one of us is gone "

But also from his demonic voice in "Our Disconnect", like a wish and a curse the true conclusion: " There is violence in our hearts unbroken, this is the day of our disconnect ". It is true that the record may not start with its strongest weapon, but "Shivers And Voids" is full of elements that fill you with questions about what will come next. But the album definitely closes with this, since "False Reflection" simply stabs the opposite mirror with a knife and tells you face to face that what you wanted to think doesn't exist. Seven years of bad luck all at once.

A harsh realization the above if I reflect, ironically using this verb, the "Endtime Signals" in my own life at random this time, hits the spot. The focus of Dark Tranquility's new record may be how we got here by doing what we've done in the past to ourselves by accepting all forms of pre-existing (self-)destruction, but that's not what's at stake. This last one is the struggle and the sacrifices to see in the background a brighter future. To struggle through the darkness, alone as we came to find this light. The end is good to accept because it is the only possibility that it means a new beginning. Otherwise, the ghosts of the past scratch wounds making them incurable.

"Endtime Signals" may be somewhat lacking in concert sing-along choruses, it may be the work of relatively new members, but it ultimately brings the renewal that Dark Tranquility needed, far surpassing " Moment ", putting aside " Atoma " and getting to compete with their old big releases. Definitely ready to battle our summer demons, "Endtime Signals" will deliver what Dark Tranquility is gifted to deliver to my life: that precious feeling of calm after disaster. Although this band will always remind me of a kiss that died for a wrong decision that was never discussed and a love that died before it was born, "Endtime Signals" coming just when I needed it, will remind me that the death of everyone gives space to the birth of new moments and how some bands like Dark Tranquility will have their way of being by your side exactly when you need them. This record is for you and me, but not for us.

" What stands before us are manmade monsters
Created by our own damn selves
We feign a deep understanding of something
Of something we can never be "

www.rocking.gr ... See More