review by: Roberto Martinelli

"Death and roll" has got to be one of the worst ideas to come from the metal underground. This death-metal-meets-hard-rock style sprung up in Sweden from the band Entombed, which made it their sound for a while, much to the dismay of all the fans who loved their first two records. Entombed's Wolverine Blues was good enough, (and the follow up To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth! was good for, like, a second) but this really was a concept that should not have come to light.

The Crown's last record, Deathrace King, was one of the few albums that used this death and roll style with success. Still, it was a little too close for comfort. Thankfully, The Crown has abandoned this direction and gone back to doing what it had been doing so well: good old, tried and true Swedish melodic death.

Well, maybe it's just a little TOO tried and true. Crowned in Terror is certainly a quality record. How could it not be? The Crown has one of the best drummers in metal in Janne Saarenpää. And now they have added the high-profile person of Tomas Lindberg (who unsurprisingly has left the band), the guy who helped make At the Gates' Slaughter of the Soul the timeless classic that it is. Well, anyone was better than the guy The Crown had before.

And so the result is an album that overall seems better than any Crown record that has come before. The production, presentation and vocals are better than ever, However, closer inspection shows that the guitar work isn't as remarkable, and the songs don't grab you as much as they did on Hell is Here, Eternal Death or even Deathrace King. In the end, Crowned in Terror will please fans of the band, and just about any other supporter of Swedish death metal. The quality expected from such bands is certainly present, but you may want for a more memorable piece of work.