CROWNSHIFT

Crownshift (Nuclear Blast)

Days ahead of their European tour, Finnish supergroup Crownshift release their self-titled debut album, which blends the talents of four musicians previously of Nightwish, Children Of Bodom, Wintersun and myGRAIN, and contains the best elements of each. But Crownshift is more than a just a meeting of minds – it’s a meeting of styles: melodic death metal meets speed metal meets medieval styles, even, on tracks such as Mirage.

Heikki Saari provides pounding drums, Jukka Koskinen and Daniel Freyberg relentless guitars, and Tommy Tuovinen clean and unclean vocals that are not demanding on the ear. With only eight tracks, Crownshift is relatively short but what it lacks in length it makes up for in depth. Opening song Stella Halo sees the band searching for sun in a burning world, but in reality the guys could sing the TV listings and still make an impact. It’s all about the melodies and musicianship here, and Crownshift is a perfect storm.

words LYNDA NASH