Crown the Lost
Cold Pestilent Hope

August 2011
Released: July, Gas Can Music
Rating: 3.0/5
Reviewer: Carlos Llanas

Hailing from Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania, Crown the Lost is a ragtag group of metallers with one thing on their mind....METAL...and lots of it. There is no doubt that these gents have talent. Their Influences range from Metallica and Maiden, to Slayer and Killswitch Engage; It is definitely a strange mix. I have never been a huge fan of that style of modern metal (Killswitch,Hatebreed,etc), but there is something a little different about Crown the Lost. The melodies and good vocals are what makes their third studio effort "Cold Pestilent Hope" good.



The first thing that caught my attention about this debut album, was the production. It has a very nice clean sound and is quite enjoyable. They really took their time putting this together and It really shows. The Album kicks off with a melodic instrumental tune titled "Pray for Death". It has good guitar work and a great feel overall. You can really hear some old school influences in the writing, and this stays constant through out the album. Not only does it have a good guitar sound and leads, but the album can turn into an all out thrashathon at times. A good Example is the song "Separate Blood from Waste", from start to finish this song takes you on a fast-paced ride with well written riffs and pounding drums. Sometimes, the vocal structure even reminded me a bit of Helstar.



The problem I had with this album, has to be the constant breakdowns with the drums and guitars (That's the Killswitch Engage I was talking about earlier). A good example of this is the song "Bloodsoaked Serenity" It starts with a gritty thrash riff, but quickly slows down and completely shuns the momentum of the song. These are scattered throughout the album, and I believe that it keeps this album at being good...not great. As soon as the song(s) start to get killer...a breakdown appears. Why slow it down? I also noticed that the only time the vocals suffer is during these moments.



Overall, this is a good album and a good buy for those who like the Old School/New School blend. Shredding guitars, thrashing speeds at times, and good vocals all play part in the making of this album. The drums can be beastly too! there are some good blast beats sprinkled on the speed of the guitars and it sounds good and aggressive.