Album Review: Crownshift - Crownshift
Reviewed by Chris Taylor
It’s certainly not uncommon for musicians from well established bands to join forces for a new project. But when said project features members from Children of Bodom, Nightwish, Wintersun, Finntroll and Mygrain you’ve got a lineup of musicians that is bound to turn heads.
It’s not a completely new partnership per say; Daniel Freyberg, Jukka Koskinen and Heikki Saari of course have all worked together in the past in their former project Norther. Many years after that band dissolved they have each been part of some of the most prestigious Metal bands in Finland. Now they have reunited once more, recruiting Mygrain vocalist Tommy Tuovinen, to bring us the debut from their new outfit, Crownshift.
Given the range of bands that these musicians come from, it invites curiosity regarding what exactly this debut is going to be. The genre title of ‘Melo Death’ has been thrown around to describe this debut, but that only tells part of the story. Crownshift style does have a noticeable whiff of Children of Bodom about it at times, but this debut pushes the bombast and spectacle resulting in an album that is such a rush from start to finish. With huge and epic synths, guitar riffs for days and a breakneck pace this band fills every space of the sonic spectrum on their debut.
The album gives you little time to get comfortable, after a few seconds of synth and noise on the opening track Stellar Halo we suddenly boot off in a barrage of fast riffing and it never lets up. The Bodom reminiscent verses are subtly crushing and the massive vocals in the chorus are epic.
You’ll probably see comparisons to Children of Bodom in many reviews of this album, heck the track If You Dare is so close to Are You Dead Yet? at times, but there are lots of ideas in this album that reminded me of many different bands. Rule the Show’s massive wall of sound reminded me a lot of Devin Townsend, (never a bad thing) and the catchy as hell A World Beyond Reach wouldn’t be out of place on an In Flames album.
It goes without saying, given the musicians behind this band that the instrumentation is top notch. Daniel’s guitar work especially is a highlight. It’s back to back great riffs that don’t let up for a second. Such a sonic scope requires a massive voice to carry it, and Tommy more than delivers on that front. Whether it’s a harsh fry scream, or soaring cleans he has it all covered. Rule the Show is a clear highlight for the vocals but great moments appear all over the album, such as stratospheric highs on the track The Devil’s Drug.
As a moment of reprieve from the high octane energy we get the instrumental Mirage. Though it feels like a transition between the previous track and the epic ten minute closer, this song was one of the highlights of the whole album. We get some acoustic guitar thrown in for an extra dynamic, the pace is more reserved but very strong and the scope is epic. Another song in this vein certainly wouldn’t have gone amiss.
But when your album’s scope is enormous throughout, how do you ensure the album ends with impact? You make the last song ten minutes long of course. Ten minutes at this level of energy could very easily have become draining, however To the Other Side absolutely ends the album with a bang. It has all the hallmarks from across the album and puts them all together in one big show stopper, culminating in a grande finale over the last two minutes that is truly epic.
I’ve had issues in the past with albums that are all energy all the time. If you’re going full blast with little time to take a breath, you risk making the album feel exhausting. Crownshift’s debut absolutely doesn’t fall victim to that. Its forty one minute run time absolutely flies by at an incredible pace.
Crownshift’s debut may veer close to other bands at points, but never at any point does it feel derivative. Every moment here is delivered with such force and energy that is infectiously entertaining.
By the band’s own admission this is not a side project for any of them. Crownshift is only just beginning and I cannot wait to hear what they do next.
