Johan Lindstrand: Vocals
Magnus Olsfelt: Bass
Marko Tervonen: Guitar
Robin Sörqvist: Lead guitar and backing vocals
Henrik Axelsson: Drums
Formed as a primitive garage act in 1990 under the name Crown of Thorns, the group that would become The Crown appeared on a compilation in ’92, and the legendary dark and brutal demos Forever Heaven Gone (1993) and Forget The Light (1994) followed, which resulted in a deal with Black Sun Records (Grotesque, Nifelheim, Ceremonial Oath) and the much-lauded debut album The Burning (1995). Blending a strong sense of melody with the thrashing ferocity of American acts and atmospheric flavor of Scandinavian tradition, the band impressed media and fans alike with a perfect amalgamation of feeling and sheer brutality. A video for “Of Good And Evil” was shot and further helped to spread the band’s moniker, as did their cover of “Mandatory Suicide” on the Slatanic Slaughter – a tribute to Slayer compilation.
In 1996, the band once again entered the studio to record its second assault, entitled Eternal Death, which showed an even more focused and breath-taking approach. Its unique mixture of hellish riffing, blasting drums, mesmerizing melodies, ripping classic metal leads, killer vocals and possessed lyrics (like the epic 8-minute “The Black Heart” dedicated to Dead / Mayhem) turned Eternal Death into a catchy yet very dangerous and addictive album. It also featured a ravaging, reworked version of the 1991 penned pre-demo classic “Kill (The Priest)”, which still is featured in the band’s live set. A video was made for the song “Angels Die”.
July 1997 was a rather unpleasant period in the band’s history as Christian glam-pop outfit Crown of Thorns forced the band to drop its name and shorten it to simply The Crown. As disastrous as this might look to outsiders, the group unflinchingly moved onward and never wavered from its mission of spreading hell and terror! The Crown made its first appearance with “The Poison” on the Statements Of Intent compilation (Wicked World Records), and a blasting cover of Sepultura‘s hymn “Arise” appeared on the Sepultural Feast tribute album.
In January/February 1998, The Crown hit the road and raised some serious hell together with Sacriflege, featuring Tomas Lindberg (At The Gates), leaving a lasting impression on the Metal Blade Records team. The band’s next album, Hell Is Here (1999), followed. 11 ripping new tracks of death, darkness, destruction, revolution, violence, Satanism, war, drugs, Armageddon, sex, black magic and rock’n'roll. A perfect combination for a perfect album! The band toured as much as they could in support of the record, joining Morbid Angel, Emperor, Impaled Nazarene, and more on the road, plus appearing at Wacken Open Air.
Two years later, The Crown delivered Deathrace King, a monstrous album that turned their death metal roots into the ultimate rock´n’roll Überbeast, destroying everything in its way. Featuring Tomas Lindberg and Mika Luttinen as guest vocalists, Deathrace King was unanimously hailed in press. The European and American tours that followed with Cannibal Corpse, Nile, Krisiun, Enslaved, Vomitory and others left clubs in sonic ruin.
Unfortunately, in 2001 vocalist Johan Lindstrand quit the band; At The Gates singer Tomas Lindberg stepped in again, for the much celebrated Crowned In Terror (2002) – yet he left the band in the very same year, due to personal differences. On 2003′s Possessed 13, Johan Lindstrand returned to the fold, delivering another punishing performance for a blistering album. Between October 2003 and February 2004, The Crown reworked Crowned In Terror with Johan Lindstrand on vocals, releasing it posthumously as Crowned Unholy. However, The Crown had marched into the grave by then.
Five years later, The Crown returned, fronted by Jonas Stålhammar (God Macabre, Bombs Of Hades) and presented a formidable comeback record with Doomsday King (2009) on Century Media Records. Eventually Jonas left the band, so the group convinced the mighty Johan Lindstrand to torture his lungs again for the new album. Death Is Not Dead (2015) features guitarists Marko Tervonen and Robin Sörqvist (who replaced Marcus Sunesson in 2013), bassist Magnus Olsfelt, and the aforementioned Mr. Lindstrand, who (de)composed an incredibly pissed off and intense record full of raging riffs, thrashing speed and devastating death metal force. Drummer Henrik Axelsson (Implode) joined the band in the beginning of 2015, replacing Janne Saarenpää, and played his first show at the Death Is Not Dead release party in Gothenburg, which was also professionally recorded and released on YouTube.
In the beginning of 2017, the band teamed up with Metal Blade Records once again. With their motivation at an all-time high, the band spent most of the year intensely rehearsing 13 new songs. They eventually entered the classic Studio Fredman with Fredrik Nordström to record what would become their new album, Cobra Speed Venom. The sound is massive, brutal and a real punch in the face. Extreme speed and aggression mixed with classic heavy metal and rock n’ roll, which really shows that The Crown has no boundaries. The apocalyptic theme of the lyrics and music also fits perfectly with the outstanding artwork of Christian Sloan Hall.
After 27 years, the band is still motivated to create a classic piece of art – and together with Metal Blade Records once again, the vision is real.
