The Crown - Eternal Death

This album reminds me of why I started listening to Swedish Metal in the first place: the monumental epic riffs.  While not a "Slaughter of the Soul" or "Like an Everflowing Stream", this one definitely holds it's own.  This album also has the rare distinction of being a second album and the band's best!  As you would expect, the memorable hooks and riffs are delivered in spades, but this album also delivers in a couple other areas.  The guitar solos sound like they were pulled from an early 80's thrash album, but yet somehow fit nicely beside the classically-inspired riffs.  The production is also unusual for '97 with the drums given the most prominence, and having the overall feel be very "live" and percussive.  I always liked the sound of a loud snare, and the drums being right up front gives the album a unique heaviness.  Yeah, I know this album is sort of common in the blogosphere, but I just like it too much to ignore.

kill the priest