# The Crown (band)

The Crown is a Swedish death metal/thrash metal band from Trollhättan, active from 1990 to 2004 and again since 2009.

## History

Originally, they used the name Crown of Thorns but were forced to change their name due to an American band already using that name. Their music and lyrics are inspired by death, antireligious themes (mostly targeting Christianity) and rebellion. They are known to fuse melodic death metal with aggressive old-school death metal tendencies and considerable thrash metal influences, reminiscent of bands such as Possessed and old Sepultura. The Crown disbanded in 2004. After that, Lindstrand went on to form One Man Army and the Undead Quartet. Tervonen formed Angel Blake, named after a song by Danzig. Sunesson is in a band called Engel. Olsfelt is also in a band called Stolen Policecar. The band was reformed in December 2009 with Jonas Stålhammar of God Macabre as the new vocalist.
On 30 June 2010, it was reported that The Crown signed a worldwide deal with Century Media Records and the band's eighth studio album, Doomsday King, was released in September 2010.
The Crown celebrated their 25th anniversary with the release of their ninth studio album, Death Is Not Dead on 12 January 2015. The first single "Headhunter" was released on 27 October 2014 as well as the music video was made on the same date.
On 28 November 2017, it was announced that The Crown had returned to Metal Blade Records, and released the first single "Iron Crown" from their then-upcoming tenth studio album Cobra Speed Venom, on 12 January 2018. On that album, The Crown used a string quartet with Alexander Bringsoniou playing violin, viola and cello. Their eleventh studio album, Royal Destroyer, was released 12 March 2021. Their next album, Crown of Thorns, is due for release on 11 October 2024.

## Musical style

The Crown's music is an aggressive mix of a more melodic version of death metal and thrash metal. Their first demo recording Forever Heaven Gone was described as "truly brutal Swedish death metal that didn't have the typical Swedish sound that bands like Entombed and Dismember were known for." Rather, their aggressive style with heavy riffs and deep powerful vocals was compared to Florida death metal.
The lyrics deal with "diabolical blasphemy, [...] death, darkness, destruction, revolution, war, drugs, sex, black magic and of course rock'n'roll." Jon Kristiansen described The Crown as "a less philosophical, unyielding thrash band". Legacy writer Volkmar Weber described it as surprising "what depth the lyrics have [...] profound inner views and attitudes to life from people who know what they are talking about".

## Members

Current line-up
* Marko Tervonen – rhythm guitar (1990–2004, 2009–present)
* Johan Lindstrand – vocals (1990–2001, 2002–2004, 2011–present)
* Marcus Sunesson – lead guitar (1993–2004, 2009–2013, 2024–present)
* Mattias Rasmussen – bass (2022–present)
* Mikael Norén – drums (2022–present)
Former members
* Magnus Olsfelt – bass (1990–2004, 2009–2022)
* Janne Saarenpää – drums (1990–2004, 2009–2014)
* Robert Österberg – lead guitar (1990–1993)
* Tomas Lindberg – vocals (2001–2002)
* Jonas Stålhammar – vocals (2009–2011)
* Robin Sörqvist – lead guitar (2013–2024)
* Henrik Axelsson – drums (2014–2022)
Timeline

## Discography
### Albums

* The Burning (1995 as Crown of Thorns)
* Eternal Death (1997 as Crown of Thorns)
* Hell Is Here (1999)
* Deathrace King (2000)
* Crowned in Terror (2002)
* Possessed 13 (2003)
* Crowned Unholy (2004)
* Doomsday King (2010)
* Death Is Not Dead (2015)
* Cobra Speed Venom (2018)
* Royal Destroyer (2021)
* Crown of Thorns (2024)

### Demos

* Forever Heaven Gone (1993)
* Forget the Light (1994)

## Videography
### DVDs

* The Crown Invades Karlsruhe (2004), pro-shot live show included with Crowned Unholy CD
* 14 Years of No Tomorrow (2006), three DVDs consisting of a documentary and live shows