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…
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.