From their inauspicious origins within a very crowded extreme music scene, Sweden's Crown slowly rose to the very top of the Scandinavian death metal class in the mid- to late 1990s. Throughout this gradual but inexorable climb, the band didn't distinguish itself as much for bringing innovations to the genre as for its unapologetic commitment to pure, unadulterated, lightning-fast, ear-shredding, Satan-worshiping death metal with elements of thrash and punk. In 2004, after releasing a string of influential albums that included Eternal Death and Crowned in Terror, the band ceased operations, but re-formed in 2010. Since then, Crown have remained firmly entrenched in the extreme metal scene, releasing acclaimed efforts like Death Is Not Dead (2015) and Royal Destroyer (2021) that are uncompromising in their brutality. ~ James Christopher Monger