The Crown – Royal Destroyer
Release Date: 12th March 2021
Label: Metal Blade Records
Pre-Order
Genre: Death Metal, Thrash Metal, Viking Metal.
FFO: Morbid Angel, Amon Amarth.
Review By: Ryan Goebel
The Crown’s 10th album Royal Destroyer brings us a taste of a few styles from the metal world. A tiny bit of thrash, blast beats here and there, some heavy riff goodness and some old school early Megadeth/Metallica sounding guitar solos.
I couldn’t help but to draw immediate comparisons to other bands for many of the tracks on Royal Destroyer. It’s metal in 2021, lack of originality is certainly overlooked and forgiven to an extent by most metal heads. The riff in Devoid of Light for example. It’s heavy, slower tempo, and it’s awesome. However, I liked it more when Morbid Angel did it in “Where the Slime Live”. Many parts of the album, in fact sound a lot like Morbid Angel or Amon Amarth. This isn’t a horrible thing, it’s an enjoyable album but I do have to give it somewhat low marks on originality. Even for metal in 2021.
Now, on to the good bits. The guitar solos are fantastic throughout. Reminiscent of a young Dave Mustaine at times, I miss solos that are both complex and melodic. A lot of people can play noise fast. Lead guitarist, Robin Sörqvist does an excellent job with fast and tight solos that had me feeling a little nostalgic for those days when I never wore anything but metal band shirts, and had the record covers pinned up on my walls.
Stand out tracks: Let the Hammering Begin! An intense burner, sure to start the pit up if it isn’t already. I don’t know about you, but I really miss getting pummelled by sweaty drunks to live music.
Motordeath, not exactly a cover of Motorbreath, but more of a tribute? It’s certainly fun. The rhythm guitarist, Marko Tervonen gets to show off a little speed.
Ultra Faust, the dual guitars near the beginning of the track really compliment and add to each others riffs well over a steady but almost subtle double-bass back beat. Then the song hits the gas pedal, and they had me at “Viking Punk”.
Overall a solid album, enjoyable but not breaking any new ground. If you are a fan of the band, it is certainly worth your time. Looking for a new metal band to check out? It’s decent and easy to get into for most metal fans. So pour yourself a nice glass of Canadian whiskey, destroy it, and turn up the volume.
(3.5 / 5)
