Are you someone who loves the crushing guitar tones of death metal and extreme doom but just can’t get down with those barking “Cookie Monster” vocals? Or are you into powerful, clean signing but just can’t back limp-wristed guitar tones that are more rock than metal? Well, has Decibel got the band for you! Los Angeles’s Stygian Crown are peddling a sound self-described as “Candlethrower.” And that’s exactly what you think it is: equal parts Bolt Thrower-inspired rolling thunder and Candlemass-derived epic doom majesty with classically-trained vocals. And it fucking rules.
“I did a video interview once after meeting Ronnie James Dio,” says drummer Rhett Davis, formerly of death/doom gods Morgion and currently of old-school killers Gravehill. “He was signing for the one and only Heaven and Hell album. The interviewer went up and down the line outside talking with fans, my friend Bob Kassing (R.I.P.) introduced us. All the questions were very thoughtful and passionate. Turns out the video was not for a publication, just for personal reasons. The interviewer is Melissa Pinion, singer of Stygian Crown. So, our mutual friend Bob and the late great Ronnie James Dio united this band.”
Hear the results of the cosmic union below on the band’s self-titled debut, and then pre-order Stygian Crown on LP, CD and digitally for its June 19 release date on Cruz del Sur.
