I didn’t see this one coming. From Portuguese underground metal label Gruesome Records comes Bloodcrown boasting well-seasoned members from Pantokrator, Crimson Moonlight, Renascent, and The Weakening, a pedigree that would be expected from the Nordic Mission label. The formation of this project sounds more like a side project as long-time friends Barry Halldan (Renascent, The Weakening), Yohan Yelenstrand (The Weakening, Crimson Moonlight) and Rickard Gustafsson (Pantokrator, Melech, Crimson Moonlight) had the time, place and passion to craft up a deliciously brutal thrashy death metal that only native Scandinavians could concoct. The focus of the project was to create music together with empowering lyrics and positive energy. Only those that are comfortable swimming in the depths of extreme metal know that this apparent contradiction of positive and extreme is quite possible with this crew.
“Sound of Flesh and Bone” is a huge slab of extreme thrashy death metal that reminds me a lot of Pantokrator at their thrashiest. Dry raspy death roars over a cacophonous beatdown of drums and heavy dissonant riffing. I liken this to a very bitter beer with a few sweet notes that ghost in as any melody becomes noticeable only after a couple of listens. Although they have a tendency to start grooving in the choruses and provide brief musical respites in the development sections as in “When Wolves” and “Purge,” it is clear Bloodcrown are more interested in pummeling their listeners into oblivion.
The songwriting, as you could imagine, focuses on these brutal metal elements rather than refined song structures. That said, the featureless harmonic landscape makes the verse blasts and the chorus grooves bleed into each other without a clear boundary. Add in the restless hyperactive drums, I start getting listener fatigue around the second half of the album. Although there is not a lot of harmonic development in the songs, there is a preoccupation with the tritone interval either harmonically or melodically, giving the songs a prevalent horror feeling. Given some of the subjects tend to be confronting the evil of the world or within ourselves, this fits in well. There are some musical elements that break up some of the sameness such as the gang vocals in “Sound of Flesh and Bone” and the neat tempo shift in “Evil Pandemic,” but they come across as gimmicks rather than a stronger musical statement.
However, these guys know their craft well and execute near flawlessly, starting with the intense drive of technical death metal drums at thrash speeds. The blast beats, fast fills and tom work are excellent, but sometimes obscure other instruments. Rhythm guitars provide texture more than harmony or rhythm, but when I focused on it I caught some cool riffs. Lead work is there as sweet notes hidden in a sea of bitter, most easily spotted in the chorus of “Purge.” The vocals have a blackened death quality a la Pantokrator or Symphony of Heaven with some hints of thrash in “Other I.”
The bookends on this album show the best of Bloodcrown. “When Wolves” starts the album with a grooving riff with fast double bass drums. The chorus has a cool swagger to it. The vocals are blackened giving the lyrics life while talking of predatory evil coming along like wolves. “The Fire of Resistance” has a bit of a different character with open broken chords and bass supporting blackened death vocals. It has a doomy-thrash feel to it in the pre-chorus into the chorus, oscillating between the heavier thrash and the open chords over the course of the song that give a good balance between brutal mode and open musical space to breathe.
I enjoyed this release although it took a few listens to really get it. It hits the spot when you need a good ol’ brutal beat down and you don’t really care how it happens. I particularly like playing “Paralysis” at home with its children’s rhyme start that is slammed into by roaring death metal and brutal drums. My two-year old thinks it is hilarious! This is a release for those that enjoy extreme metal on the bitter end of the taste spectrum. Goes down well after a rough day at work.
Rating: 8.5/10
Written by Sean Bailey
Tracklist
1 – When Wolves
2 – Sword Cut
3 – Other I
4 – Sound of Flesh and Bone
5 – Hypnotized in Chains
6 – Momentary
7 – Paralysis
8 – Purge
9 – Obscenity
10 – Evil Pandemic
11 – Fire of Resistence
Bloodcrown is:
Barry Halldan – vocals
Johan Wold Ylenstrand – guitars, bass
Rickard Gustafsson – guitar, bass, vocals, and drums
Guests:
Jocke Svensson (Birdflesh) – vocals on “Paralysis”
Simon Pilgrim Rosen (Crimson Moonlight) – vocals on “Fire of Resistance”
Release Date: July 26, 2024
Record Label: Gruesome Records
Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Spotify | Bandcamp
Video for ‘Other I’
Video for ‘When Wolves’