Heavy Lies The Crown - "Heavy Lies The Crown" Album Review!!

It's now time for our 151st monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, as we're taking a look at St. Ignace, Michigan progressive metalcore quintet Heavy Lies The Crown's self-titled full length album! Independently released to digital platforms on December 17th, this is H.L.T.C.'s second release, following their 2019 EP "Scatter Brain", whose four songs were all re-recorded for this album, albeit with one renaming. Recorded primarily at their home studio in 2020 & 2021, "Heavy Lies The Crown" features the band's current lineup, including singer Brandon West, guitarists Ted Olson & Nathan Switzer, bassist Danny Tucker, and drummer Cale Krist, with Nathan making his studio debut with the band here. Heavy Lies The Crown's new album is solely a digital release (note that they have not played live during the pandemic), but you can buy it for $9.49 on Amazon in MP3 format, and you can stream it for free on YouTube, Spotify, and Amazon Music.

Song names below are linked to their YouTube copies, and for the "Scatter Brain" re-recordings, I'll primarily be comparing differences with the originals rather than re-reviewing those songs (check out that EP's review for my original thoughts). With 12 songs running for about 42 minutes in length, let's kick off this review with the first song, "Friend"! A pounding hardcore number that seems tailor made for live concert mosh pits, this has the production quality and style that fans of bands like Wage War will get a kick out of, and the dual guitar attack is put to solid use! That said, this is a short song eithout a proper guitar solo (despite Ted & Nathan's skill levels), the drums can sound a little artificial, and Brandon's screaming sounds shriller here than it did on "Scatter Brain". Still, this is an entertaining contemporary metalcore song that gets in and out without overstaying its welcome!

Second is the album's shortest track, "Interlude", but this is barely a song. In reality, it's a 55 seconds-long techno piece that directly leads right into song #3. I'm not a massive fan of breaking up one actual song like this to have a dedicated introduction track, but it's fine if you like instrumental drum & bass. "Interlude" segues right into the first of this album's "Scatter Brain" re-recordings, namely "Choke", so what's different about the 2021 version? Aside from having no interlude of any kind, the song's structure has not changed, but the instrumentation is fuller, no doubt helped by having Nathan on board now! While louder than the EP, "Choke" does have a harsher, rawer feel that may not be to everyone's taste, but it's still a killer track that puts Brandon's A.H.C.-esque vocals to good use! As on "Scatter Brain" though, there are more technically sound songs on offer.

Next is another returnee from "Scatter Brain", namely "Knucklebutter", which is very similar in how H.L.T.C. handled it for the new album: Identical structure, a fuller sound with twin guitars, and a louder yet tinnier recording quality. The biggest difference is the background laughter from the band late in the song is completely gone for the re-recording, though Brandon now does some pig squealing(?!) at the very end. Musically, this was my favourite song on "Scatter Brain", and I'm pleased to see that they didn't change much, as that galloping riff and dramatic tension can't be denied! We briefly move to new songs with "Every Step Of The Way", which contrasts a nice melodic guitar intro with assaulting instrumentation to start, and these guys sure know how to write a solid breakdown! The alternating clean and harsh vocals are well handled, and this song sure puts Danny and Cale to solid use!

As a pure musical showcase, everyone gets moments to shine on this song, and while the song isn't catchy on earworm levels, I can definitely see why this was one of the advance singles, as the technicality and heaviness quotas were certainly met! The third of the "Scatter Brain" re-recordings is next, namely "Time Diffuser", but you can just repeat most of my prior comparisons verbatim for what's different from two years ago vs. now, aside from a more drawn out last stretch that slightly lengthens the song. In this way, the song doesn't end so abruptly, so that's an improvement! The more inventive structure and nice vocal contrast and guitar line are all intact here, so fans of the original will have nothing to worry about, and new fans won't feel out of the loop either! On the second half of the album, we're mostly dealing with new songs, with the last re-recording at the very end.

Next on the album is "Princess", which is the most melodic song yet on offer, with Brandon clean singing (to varying extents) throughout, though some background screaming is included. This kind of gives me the vibe of modern In Flames, which is sort of a mixed blessing, but it does show that H.L.T.C. aren't afraid of expanding their boundaries. Myself, I think it's a little too mid-tempo and sleepy, despite solid musicianship, but if you wanted to hear them drop the metalcore aspect, here you go! Song #8 is "*69" (yes, as in the call return code), and this song bizarrely is a bit of a throwback to nu metal, with pseudo-rapped verses. I guess in this respect, American Head Charge comparisons are more apt than ever! For a relatively shorter song, there's surprisingly not a lot going on here, with a relatively repetitive musical structure and minimal lyrics, plus some wind effects at the end.

If you're a nu metal diehard, this song may pique your interest, and the choruses do have screaming, but I dunno, this song feels even more out of place than "Princess" did. Ninth is another of the album's advance singles, "Voices", and while this also is heavy on clean vocals like "Princess", the song proper is heavier and feels more like it could have came from the "Scatter Brain" sessions, and it has a darker vibe, fittingly with background voices in the intro. The second chorus in particular has Brandon letting loose with harsh vocals! Ted & Nathan lay down some brutal riffs and solos in this one, and I like how Cale's drumming sounds on this one. Heavy Lies The Crown have catchier songs, but it's good to see them getting back on track for their wheelhouse here while still shaking it up! 

"Dead Teeth" is next (along with a little too much background hiss), and the pre-verse guitar riffing is excellent here! Like with "Voices", this song nicely alternates clean and harsh singing with the right mood for where the song's going, and musically, everyone performs to the best of their abilities! Nothing shocking to report here compared to prior songs, just a very solid metalcore song from H.L.T.C. that fits with their usual sound! The  "Oh God, I love it" at the end came out of nowhere though. The penultimate song "A Sold Soul" is both the last brand new song and the longest one on the album, and like with "Princess", I am getting heavy post-"Siren Charms" In Flames vibes from this song, with Brandon singing for the duration aside from the background screaming. Honestly, some of his vocals on the chorus sound really strained, but they do set a darker, ominous mood!

The song proper isn't bad, and it doesn't feel padded to almost 6 minutes, but compared to what I most like out of Heavy Lies The Crown, I was definitely missing crushing riffs and breakdowns and what have you. As a piece of music, it's well composed and professional, but "Scatter Brain" fans may not get what they're expecting. Speaking of which, the final carry-over from that EP closes this album, namely "A Hell Bound Heart", which was known there as "Thing #1". Not sure why they renamed it, but it sounds less Seussical now! As with the prior three re-recordings, this song is largely the same structurally but with fuller guitar work, but the production quality is beefier here, and the effects put on the start and end do help add a little extra flourish! This one seemed to get the most care, and it feels heavier now!

So what are my final thoughts on Heavy Lies The Crown's self-titled album? Overall, this is an entertainingly diverse album that feels like what their 2019 EP should have been right along in many respects! While not perfect, it shows their metalcore hybrid sound put to good use with lots of professionalism, and everyone shines musically! Brandon's screaming is effective, and his clean vocals have their moments, while Ted & Nathan play off of each other well with their technical guitar skills, Danny's bass filled out the low end as well as you'd expect, and Cale kept a strong rhythm on drums throughout! The four re-recordings were wisely not altered too much, while the new songs mostly followed in a similar vein, so this mostly felt like one cohesive recording session. My favourite songs would have to be "Knucklebutter", "Every Step Of The Way", and "A Hell Bound Heart".

For negative points.... the production did feel tinny and less rich for most of the re-recordings, I'd have liked to have heard a couple more guitar solos, "Interlude" being separated from "Choke" is pointless, I didn't really take to "*69" at all, and I think Brandon should work a little on his clean vocals, especially if we're going to be getting more modern In Flamesy stuff from them on future albums. Still, it's great to see a talented extreme metal band making new music in the E.U.P. like this, and hopefully we hear much more from Heavy Lies The Crown ahead, especially when they're ready to play live again! Give this album a listen at the above links, and I hope you guys liked this month's CD review! As for our next CD review, I'm not sure what we'll be looking at yet. The obvious picks (The Din's "Technically Live" and Molten Imp's "Constable Sewage") are still within our 6 month anti-bias buffer period.

Normally, if nothing new comes out on sale to review, I'd dip into the archives, ideally tied into a musician playing live in the given month, and if there's any solace to that idea, it's that restrictions in Ontario are loosening, so some live concerts could be ahead next month. Time will tell, but stay tuned in any event, and we'll have more news and notes on the site as the week progresses! Thanks everyone!