Review: THE CROWN ‘Cobra Speed Venom’ [Video Stream]

Swedish death metal veterans, The Crown return with their tenth full-length studio album, ‘Cobra Speed Venom,’ scheduled for release March 16, 2018 via Metal Blade Records.  Since originally forming in 1990 under the name Crown of Thornes, the band has gone through various metamorphoses but once again manage to bring their unique rock n’ roll attitude and sensibility to their sound which is, without a doubt, unabashedly and unapologetically “metal.”  By incorporating the aggressive and speedier elements of thrash, the brutality of old school American and Swedish death metal, and the groove and inhibition of arena rock; The Crown takes a refreshing approach to their own distinctive brand of death metal.  There is virtually zero pretense to be heard and it’s clear while listening to this album that the group is actually having fun playing music the way they want to.  As highly skilled and experienced musicians with an impressive discography to prove it, they deliver an amazingly powerful thirteen-track, hour-long annihilator of a record that will immediately satisfy and impress metal fans ranging anywhere from the casual to the über elite.   Continue reading