Be careful when you hit the play button on this one because Stygian Crown is a band with a mighty force that will throw you to your knees and then leave you there so that you may worship at the altar of doom! They're bringing some much needed darkness to the sunny city of Los Angeles, California with their "demo" entitled Through Divine Rite. I put "demo" in quotes there because I've heard a lot of demos and this is a way higher quality than most of them and with some pretty incredible songs to boot! It's heavy as a truckload of stone, weighed down with the sound of doom and taking plenty of inspiration from epic acts like Candlemass and Solitude Aeturnus as well as traditional metal. Up front, powerful female vocals call out across the void and summon an otherworldly might into the shadows while the band attacks mostly with slow pounding waves of sound that crash without remorse, occasionally working into a merciless gallop. A few symphonic moments creep in to add some dramatic tension and adds a beautiful accent to the doom metal without impeding anything heavy - a fitting soundtrack for rituals serving ancient warrior gods! These songs should be echoing through the hallowed halls of a temple, offered in tribute along with the spoils of a morose war. You could compare the band to Avatarium, but Stygian Crown doesn't bother with anything gentle or proggy on this demo, they're always giving you full-on power! There's only three tracks here which just isn't enough for me, but the good news is that there's a full-length album in the works, so here's hoping for more soon! -Brandon
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