Crown Magnetar return with an immense display of technical brutality, pushing deathcore’s extremity to a new apex of precision and savagery.
CROWN MAGNETAR
Of all the deathcore bands that emerged in the last decade Crown Magnetar stand firmly in the genre’s upper echelons, consistently delivering top calibre devastation since 2016. The band’s uncompromising brutality hits new highs with this third full length which introduces guitarist Rob Maramonte whose arrival injects a fresh strain of rampant technical adroitness. Alongside him are vocalist Dan Tucker, bassist/producer Mike Sahm and drummer Byron London.
THE HOLLOWING OF GODFLESH
What sets Crown Magnetar apart is their fusion of raw deathcore violence riffing with skilful technicality that nods towards tech titans Suffocation and Defeated Sanity. Opener Gun Eater functions as a tension building prelude before Desecrate Infinite releases an all-out bombardment. Brief cinematic textures add subtle atmospherics, but the core focus remains with outright bludgeoning. There are tons of breakdown riff points anchoring every track while Domination is an unceremoniously barrage of blast beats with unsettling atmospherics create that link with the disturbing cover art.
Photo: Andy Pountney
IMPALED GENESIS
The onslaught is relentless. Impaled Genesis carves groove-laden wounds with intermittent riffage as every member unleashes as the rhythm section matches the vocal shifts monstrous gutturals and banshee screeches. The title track follows with an avalanche of death metal ferocity – dementedly fast blast beats swirling around abrupt tempo changes and crushing riff motifs. Godkiller stands out as an immediate live staple, its opening salvo centring on old school tech-death with a slight Dying Fetus thread before an unhinged tempo drop plummets the song into heavyweight breakdown territory.
SCULPTURES OF SUFFERING
Penultimate song Sculptures Of Suffering features guest vocals from Flesh Carving’s Heath Thompson trading frantic throat shredding duties with Tucker to create pure pandemonium. Punctured by breakdown riffs it lets the album’s underlying groove take centre stage before giving way to the contrasting finale Dead Crown. Building a noise filled fade-in the track erupts with a torrential riff explosion and inhuman fury. By making every song feel like impending Armageddon, Crown Magnetar prove once again why they command the absolute apex of today’s deathcore scene.
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