Swedish death metal legends, The Crown, will issue their twelfth studio album, Crown Of Thorns, on October 11 via Metal Blade Records. Check out a new unboxing video below:

Crown Of Thorns serves as the band's dynamic follow-up to 2021's Royal Destroyer and the record's musical dynamics are on a new level due in no small part to the 2022 addition of drummer Mikael Norén and bassist Mattias Rasmussen as well as the return of lead guitarist Marcus Sunesson, rejoining longtime members Tervonen and vocalist Johan Lindstrand.

"With Mikael, we managed to bring back a bit more of that crazy 'Janne Saarenpää' feel to the drumming, so that was a really cool energy boost. Mattias comes more from a punk/crust background, and he wrote 'I Hunt With The Devil' and 'Mind Collapse,' which turned out great. This is definitely a step up in many ways, changing the way we worked on the CSV and RD albums."

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. With 2018's Cobra Speed Venom the band reached the same lofty heights as their 2002 landmark release, Crowned In Terror. And with the barbaric Royal Destroyer, and now, 2024's powerful and unique Crown Of Thorns, the metal vets rage with a rekindled fire and ferocity while honoring their roots. As Tervonen concludes, noting of Crown Of Thorns, "I guess every band needs to do a self-titled album at some point. So now we did it, our way."

Crown Of Thorns was recorded by Marko Tervonen (Studio-MT), mixed and mastered by Jonas Kjellgren (Black Lounge Studios), and will be released on jewel case CD (US), limited digipak CD with three additional studio songs (EU), and digital formats, as well vinyl in the following color variants:

- Black + White Split (US)
- 180g Black (EU)
- White Black Marbled (EU)
- White Black Dust (EU - Ltd. 300)
- Iron-Grey Marble (EU - LP + bonus 7", slip mat, patch - Ltd. 500)

Pre-order here.

Crown Of Thorns tracklisting:

"I Hunt With The Devil"
"Churchburner"
"Martyrian"
"Gone To Hell"
"Howling At The Warfield"
"The Night Is Now"
"God-King"
"The Agitator"
"Where Nightmares Belong"
"The Storm That Comes"
"Eternally Infernal" (Bonus Track)
"No Fuel For Godv (Bonus Track)
"Mind Collapse" (Bonus Track)

"Gone To Hell" video:

"Churchburner" video:

The Crown live:

November
23 - Gothenburg Hall Of Metal - Gothenburg, Sweden

March
15 - Heidelberg Deathfest 25 - Heidelberg, Germany

The Crown are:

Johan Lindstrand - vocals
Marko Tervonen - guitar
Marcus Sunesson - lead guitar
Mattias Rasmussen - bass
Mikael Norén - drums

(Photo - Daniel Johansson)