Metal Debate Album Review - Stalker At The Midian Metal (Crown Of Anguish)

The Great Metal Debate Podcast

Welcome metal heads from around the world to another episode of The Great Metal Debate podcast. Its Xander with another back to back album review. Today we will be checking out the debut full-length album by Crown of Anguish from Preston, UK. The album is titled Stalker At The Midian Gate which was released July 9th through Brutal Cave Records. I first heard of this band about 3 weeks ago when I heard the single "Radiant Moon of Aphos". I instantly looked up the album name printed on the cover and found nothing anywhere. I looked up Metal-Archives, nothing. Bandcamp, nothing. Their Facebook, nothing. All I knew from the video description was that it was set to release in July but with no official date. So I had to keep periodically checking to see if it was out and I didn't know about it being dropped on the 9th until the 10th. Fuck me right? Anyway, I knew I wanted to talk about it. But first, its worth noting that they had released an untitled EP last year and that there's no repeats, remixes or remasters of old songs on the LP. The first track on the record "Gathering Stormfires of the Perilous Want" might sound like an ordinary death metal song, but give it time. After a minute there will be one of my favorite uniqides about the genre. The inclusion of acoustic guitar. This one however has an ancient oriental sound as if its meant to sound old. After this break in the song, another tempo change happens where both the music and vocals have a groove. "Radiant Moon of Aphos" as I mentioned earlier has a great sounding main riff which perfectly fits the rest of the overall instrumentation. The guitarist, Matt Gornall has provided us with mostly chugs although his brief melodic moments shine very bright. "Limbless In Rapture" continues the heaviness and its time to bring up the vocals. While he might sound like any other front man, what separates Ali Lauder from everyone else is that he has a lot more power in his delivery than most. Next we have a calming interlude track titled "Tribute To The Ashen King". It's a peacefully way to bridge the gap that leads to "From The Embers to the Catacombs". Straight away the drums blast your eardrums further into your skull. "Sidereal Rites" starts off with another quick ancient sounding instrument before exploding back into the same hard hitting death metal we've been getting pummeled with from the get-go. And then there's a track like "He Who Bears The Key". Now with this one, its obvious that the band intends on keeping us listening with the interesting middle eastern sounding beginnings. This one also has it infused towards the middle of the song. If you want some straight forward death metal without all the extra jazz to spice it up, "Graven Challengers to the Rift" is your song. Nothing but unyielding death metal. "Vengeful Eye of the Magi" obviously has to have a desert tune. If the word Magi is in the title, the first thing that will come to most minds of millennials like myself who grew up watching The Mummy. The final track is "Gates to Eternity" but it only serves as a conclusionary instrumental consisting of an ancient sounding drum beat as if an army is marching to war. Now is this a perfect death metal release? No. Is it entertaining and worth your time? Absolutely. Is it enough to keep listeners engaged? I'd sure say so. I feel like this band is for fans of Hour of Penance or Hate Eternal, minus the constant Erick Rutan shreds. I'm going to give this debut a 7/10 rating. I'm definitely going to keep my eye on this band over the next few years to see what they do next. I'm sure they'll find new ways to improve upon music that is already good. Show your support by buying their digital album and EP on bandcamp because this full-length debut is not currently on amazon music. I'm not sure if they're on Spotify yet but you can check for me.