Back in 2020, when reviewing Crown Lands’ debut album, I wrote: “It seems that Crown Lands know where their influences lie, but that as they move forward, they might find their own voice and become truly special.”
By the time 2023’s stunning “Fearless” arrived, I reckoned they had done precisely that.
Now comes “Apocalypse” — sorry! — and if the title suggests something vast, dramatic and faintly ridiculous, then good, because Crown Lands have always sounded best when they are reaching for the stars and refusing to apologise for it.
This is seven glorious songs that only they could have made. That is the key here. The influences are still there, of course. You do not need a doctorate in classic rock to hear the Led Zeppelin thing in places, and frankly, if this had come out in the 1970s, they would surely have been huge. But the important bit is that Crown Lands no longer feel like a band merely pointing backwards. They feel like one heading somewhere.
The opening moments add a bit of gravitas, almost like the opening titles to some enormous film. That suits them. Everything here feels wide-screen. The riffs matter, the soaring voice matters, and the sublime guitar work matters, but more than that there is a feeling of something important happening.
That has become Crown Lands’ trick. Even when they strip things down, it still feels massive. The voice is incredible, the space around the songs is used brilliantly, and there is a confidence here that comes from a band knowing exactly what it wants to be.
Musically and creatively, “Apocalypse” marks a clear turning point too. After completing “Rituals” entirely in their home studio, the band gained the confidence to take near-total control of the production process, and you can hear that freedom all over this record. It does not sound fussed-over so much as fully realised. There is a difference.
At times it is heavier and more crushing, with an 80s feel that gives the thing real muscle. Elsewhere it stretches out, breathes, and lets the ambition do the talking. And when Crown Lands go big, they go properly big.
In many ways, the whole album feels like it has been leading up to the title track. “Apocalypse” is a 20-minute undulating statement, full of movement, drama and absolute class. It is the sort of thing most bands would not dare attempt, and fewer still could pull off without disappearing up themselves. Crown Lands do it because this is their world now.
That, really, is the triumph here. “Apocalypse” is not just another step forward. It is the sound of a band with a single-minded determination to chase the music in their heads, wherever it takes them.
Crown Lands remain one of the most ambitious and interesting of the new breed. On this evidence, they are also one of the best.
Rating: 8.5/10
