|
|
|
|
Fuck Yeah!! This album kicks you in the head. “The Return of The Crown” indeed. I don’t know much about The Crown, and all I’ve ever known from them was “Crowned in Terror”, which is also the only album of theirs where Johan Lindstrand didn’t sing with the band. Tomas Lindberg who filled in on vocals, is always amazing as he was on “Crowned in Terror”. It was fast with great riffs, and ripping vocals, I completely enjoyed the album. But after listening to “Possessed 13”, I appreciate this band so much more, and Johan Lindstrand is their voice!! This album smashes “Crowned in Terror”!! “Possessed 13” is exactly why I listen to metal music. From start to finish, it’s fun as hell. So much energy is put into the music throughout these thirteen songs you can imagine the band playing before your own eyes. The album marks the return of their long time / original singer in Johan Lindstrand, and I must say he tears the fucking roof down. The riffs are old school, but don’t sound at all dated. As I listen to every song, I get the feeling of wanting to smash anything and everything I see. The instrumentals break the album up well, and let you rest, just to tear things up again. “Possessed 13” almost reminds me of Motorhead, but far superior, and way more aggressive. I’ve read the term death-n-roll to describe these guys, which is a perfect description of their sound. This LP also marks the 13th anniversary of the band, and the album contains 13 tracks. So the title is absolutely fitting. Don’t expect anything new here, just some extremely well played thrash / death / grind, that will get you smiling while you bang your head. Ohh and every song kills!!
The CD that I bought is a double “Deluxe Edition” CD. CD two contains the bands first ever studio recording, their first demo, and their second demo, plus a couple bonus tracks. “Last Rite” was the bands first studio recording from 1992. The song is pure hatred filled death metal straight from the pits of hell, and is a lot darker than the bands material today. The “Forever Heaven Gone” demo from 1993, is in its entirety here, and is the bands first official release. It could almost be mistaken for early At the Gates. Melodic death metal, except with Slayer-ish riffs. The music is very good along with demonic growls. Not as much atmosphere like the early ATG stuff, but is far more structured. Sounds great for a demo. The music isn’t as much fun as the new stuff, but still quality death metal. The rhythm of these songs is very busy, and bounces around, great songs to get a pit going!! The music almost crossed over to black metal at times, but stays true to death. I find Johan Lindstrand hasn’t developed his vocals totally, and relies too much with the guttural growls. The guitaring is the most advanced at this point. “Beyond Where Darkness Dwells” ends peacefully, although it gives an impression of the calm before the storm. Their second demo (and last) “Forget the Light” is also included. The first difference between this demo and the first is SPEED!! The riffs are blistering compared to “Forever Heaven Gone”. Johan sounds a step better. Much more frantic. Although the music is tighter, I like the first demo more, it was more diverse in it’s sound. Next is “Burning Leather” which is a Bathory demo song cover. It was recorded in 2000. The song is basically speed-metal, which speeds up into a grind tempo. The vocals sound lost in the mix, they aren’t up front, and are quieter than the actual music. That bothers me. “Rebel Angel” ends the second CD, and is a demo from pre-production in 1999. A very energetic feel to this song.
The second CD is wicked, but the main album destroys!! Even though the second CD is very cool, and gives you some insight into where The Crown has been, I’d be happy paying the price I did for just the main album – “Possessed 13". Buy it if you see it!!
| Tracklist |
| Disc one: |
| 1. No Tomorrow |
| 2. Face Of Destruction - Deep Hit Of Death |
| 3. Deliverance |
| 4. Cold Is The Grave |
| 5. Dream Bloody Hell |
| 6. Morning Star Rising |
| 7. Are You Morbid? |
| 8. Bow To None |
| 9. Kill 'Em All |
| 10. Natashead Overdrive |
| 11. Zombified! |
| 12. Dawn Of Emptiness |
| 13. In Memoriam |
| Disc two: |
| 1. Last Rite |
| 2. Seventh Gate |
| 3. Deadspawn |
| 4. Diachronic Damnation |
| 5. The Lord Of The Rings |
| 6. Beyond Where Darkness Dwells |
| 7. Forever Heaven Gone |
| 8. Soulicide Demon-Might |
| 9. Godless |
| 10. Never-ending Dream |
| 11. Candles |
| 12. Burnin’ Leather |
| 13. Rebel Angel (demo) |
: N/A
| Buy other The Crown albums |
