Fans may remember this Swedish band’s older material, while under the moniker of Crown Of Thorns, The Burning and Eternal Death released on Black Sun Records. Under this name the band was a much darker act, somewhat along the lines of fellow Swede legends At The Gates. With the slight name change, and switch to the much larger Metal Blade Records came a rather significant change in style as well. The band has a much thrashier sound, much more commercially acceptable than their earlier, darker material. The music is rather typical of most Swedish death metal groups, pick one rhythm and play it to death throughout the entire album, variety is not something Swedes are well known for, that’s for sure. The vocals are a black metal/thrash hybrid, with a growly screech, found in most Swedish metal bands. The drumming of Janne Sarenpaa is surprisingly good, he’s one of the few European drummers I’ve heard who can keep my attention without annoying me shitless with endless blast beats, he seems to actually have some *gasp* skill. The guitaring is rather typical death-thrash, a lot of simplistic riffing, but with an interesting enough rhythm to keep from being boring. As much as I would like to tear into The Crown, I must admit that they’re actually not that bad. They’re able to mix enough Scandinavian death metal with American thrash to keep the album somewhat interesting. Although I wouldn’t actually recommend buying Hell Is Here, I personally far prefer The Burning, but I won’t go out of my way to tell people not to get it. Listen to it yourselves and make your own decision, even I’m still not sure whether I like it or not.

Written By: Teufel