The Crown S02

Crown Of Thorns serves as the band’s twelfth studio album as The Crown and is the dynamic, groundbreaking follow-up to 2021's Royal Destroyer. The band made distinctly different creative choices to ensure that the LP’s ten songs would stand as a unique collection.
“For me, Cobra Speed Venom and Royal Destroyer are like siblings,” says guitarist Marko Tervonen. And while Royal Destroyer was termed a “a ridiculously catchy album,” The Crown wanted to “make sure that we would take a step forward, get a bit more out of the comfort zone on Crown of Thorns.”
It's very few bands who have a revered and established career - The Crown celebrated their 30th anniversary in 2020 (their first eight years spent as Crown of Thorns) - yet up the ante continually…

Having celebrated their thirtieth anniversary in 2020 [their first eight years spent as Crown Of Thorns], The Crown have proven themselves one of the most enduring forces in death metal. In 2021 they further up the ante with Royal Destroyer, a record that sets a new standard for the genre. "It is our album number ten, so now we are in the big boys club," says bassist Magnus Olsfelt. "I think it in some ways is our crowning achievement, and it encompasses our sound across all albums on one defining record. It's got it all - the early 90s death metal stuff, the haunting melodies, the thrash, the punk, the grind, the heavy metal and the more epic and doomy stuff."

The legacy of the celebrity castrato Senesino has endured for centuries. He is known to us today primarily as Handel’s leading man for 13 seasons in London, and he was recognised the world over for his moving dramatic interpretations, fiery singing, and singular, over-the-top divo personality. Yet, Handel’s music for Senesino only shows us a fraction of the numerous virtuosic roles written for the castrato. Here, for the first time, are arias by seven overlooked composers who also wrote showpieces for the (in)famous Senesino. All but one of the arias on this album are modern-day premieres and heard together, they illuminate the talents of an 18th-century operatic icon.