vote
7.5
- Bands:
THIS ENDING - Duration: 00:40:00
- Available from: 04/26/2024
- Label:
-
Apostasy Records
Streaming not yet available
“Crowned In Blood” marks not only a new chapter in the career of Swedish melodic death metallers This Ending, but, as happened with the previous works, it can also be seen as a sort of reincarnation of A Canorous Quintet. The latter – cult bands of the Swedish scene of the Nineties – actually officially reformed in 2016, however remaining inactive on a recording level, if we exclude a superfluous re-recording of the second album, “The Only Pure Hate”. The leader and guitarist Linus Nirbrant is continuing to compose under the moniker This Ending, however the style now has more and more affinity with that of his original creature – not to mention that the two groups share several members – and this bond is clearly reflected in the sound of the album.
The music of “Crowned In Blood” is imbued with the spirit of the nineties, bringing back to life the energy and atmosphere of the early days of Swedish melodic death metal. Despite the vaguely nostalgic approach, the production of the album remains in step with the times, guaranteeing a crystalline and powerful sound that goes well with the ‘pull’ of the compositions.
The echoes of the old At The Gates are evident in tracks like “Devils” or “A Venomous Prison”, but Nirbrant and his companions still remain veterans who, even if behind the scenes, have given their contribution to the spread of the melodic death movement already around 1995/96. It can therefore be said that the quintet is also revisiting and reworking its own sonic identity, then combining certain classic elements of old school Swedish black metal nuances and also some more death-thrash touches. The result is a tight, sharp sound that seeks to capture the essence of the genre, or indeed that of albums like “Silence of the World Beyond” and “The Only Pure Hate,” while adding a few new layers to make the development less obvious. of the tracklist. If very long pieces like the title track or “Lord, Master, King and Emperor – All in One” continuously shuffle the cards, touching on every facet of the sound, with “Blood King” we come across an old-fashioned acoustic interlude, which surely someone will also compare it to a “Lunar Strain”. “Will of Iron”, however, is the episode that best shows off the most ferocious and thrashing side of the group, with an attack similar to the old The Crown and a more choral refrain, while “”Hope in Inferno” is a midtempo which in certain situations also expresses a semi-ballad reflective vein.
After various discreet but always slightly fluctuating tests, in this “Crowned In Blood” one perceives a greater compactness and a higher degree of inspiration and ease, as if the band had finally found its own squaring of the circle. On the one hand we have a tribute to a certain glorious past of Swedish metal and to the background of these same musicians, but, on the other hand, we also see a step forward towards new creative heights for This Ending, where passion and determination are also corroborated by riffs winning and smoother structures.
