Band:	Crowned
Album:	Vacuous Spectral Silence
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	October 2012

01. Menelvagor
02. Journey To The Cross-roads
03. Firmament
04. Apocryphal Catacomb
05. Diamonds
06. Vacuous Spectral Silence

It's 1992, You're in Norway, It's cold and snowy outside. You brush the snow off of your tattered leather jacket as you enter your best friend's basement studio. You quickly get to work, pumping out blastbeats, savage guitar riffs, and tortured angry vocals. All recorded onto your mom's eight track.

Now let's start over. Now that it's 2012, much has changed, however the formula still remains. Crowned plays 90's black metal in this new millennium; the music is vicious. The buzz saw riffs, pounding blastbeats, and mournful growls, mix together similar to their 90's forefathers, almost a little too much at certain times. The music is extremely well done, however it feels soulless, and empty, and not in a good, black metal way. I had trouble connecting with the music, always feeling that it was just skin-deep, and nothing more.

That being said, the music itself is exceptionally well done. The drumming is quick, and tight. The guitars are droning, monotonous, and hateful. The vocals are raspy, and loathsome. It all comes together in a package showcasing the bitterness of it all. The tremolo laden riffs will make you question why you even get out of bed. The drums will hammer you into submission, just like a fourth grade bully. The vocals are the decision that you just can't take it anymore, and it's time to go?

The songs do, however, tend to get repetitive after the near hour of similar song writing. The riffs become predictable and the drumming becomes a little too monotonous. But looking back at the Peaceville Trio, or Varg's earlier work, you can easily overlook the fact that it may be just a slight bit too long, as we do with the other black metal classics. In conclusion, this is definitely one to look forward to if you're a fan of black metal, or even just extreme metal in general.

1990's black metal in 2012.