It's now time for our 177th monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, as we're looking at St. Ignace, Michigan deathcore band
Heavy Lies The Crown's second full-length album
"Built For Us"! Quietly and independently released to major streaming services on January 31st, H.L.T.C. are represented here by their mid-late 2023 lineup, including singer Brandon West and the now-departed
Ted Olson on guitar, alongside bassist Christian Cook and drummer Jaxon Massaway in their studio debuts with the band. Note that ex-rhythm guitarist Christian Thanasiu appears in
their music video for "Celebrate The Night", which was filmed in 2022, but it is not clear if he performed on any of the final copies here or not (he is not seen in their other music videos for the album). The follow-up to their self-titled 2021 album (later renamed
"Knucklebutter"), it is unclear if physical copies of "Built For Us" have been/will be made.
You can stream the new album for free on "all streaming platforms" Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Amazon Music, and Boomplay, and mp3 copies of the album are on sale on Amazon for $9.49 and on iTunes for $9.99. Song names below are linked to their YouTube copies.
With 11 songs running for about 35 minutes, let's begin this review! The opening song is
"Heart Sex", which opens (and closes) with news clips of anchors reporting about bad and catastrophic events around the world, before the song proper kicks into gear 40 seconds in. A pounding song with djent-influenced guitar work from Ted, the vocal style here remains reminiscent of American Head Charge when Brandon is screaming, but he is throwing in more death metal growling than we have previously seen from H.L.T.C. in studio. This song has a strong, assaulting groove that is indicative of the band's planned move to heavier styles, and Christian's bass pairs well, so this is a quality opener! Next up is
"Rat King", which has a more melodic guitar riff and a more Killswitch Engage-y structure to it, including melodic (if still full-voiced) singing from Brandon when not screaming.
With no proper guitar solo on the opener, "Rat King" lets Ted show off a little more, and Jaxon gets more to do behind the drumkit, so as a pure talent showcase, this is definitely notable! Crushing bridge aside, "Heart Sex" is definitely a heavier song though, so pick your poison, but both are effective openers with their own sounds! Third on offer is "Intro To Death", which is literally the intro to "Death", as in track #4, "Death Parade". Running for an album-low 60 seconds, it has ominous background noise and a siren before we hear 10 seconds of growling from Brandon. At least this intro track doesn't artificially break up a 3:42 song, as it has a clear end, but it doesn't really stand on its own even still. As for "Death Parade", it's a faster paced song with more of a deathcore influence, with Brandon really varying his vocals throughout, and the choruses definitely soar overtop of the riffing!
Jaxon really shines on drums here, but but to a point, I think the song is more of a noise cacophony than what came before it, and has less of a melodic base (it being a relatively short song acknowledged). Noise metal fans will take to it readily! Song #5 is the first advance single & music video
"Jell-O", an intense and fast-paced metal song whose ominous cascading riffs really belie the song's title! The guitar work (lack of solo aside) is top notch, Brandon's harsh vocals are well applied, and Christian more than holds his own on the low end, so this is another early highlight! My big problem with the song is that it ends
way too abruptly, just with a very quick fade-out, and for a sub-3 minute song, it was begging for more. After all, there's always room for Jell-O! Sixth on the album is
"Country Song 2" (yes, that is its name). This is an 80 second instrumental led primarily by Ted, evoking the background music in a western movie to an extent.
Still relatively ominous as it goes, the song isn't badly composed and kinda serves as an intermission for "Built For Us", but the last 15 seconds really didn't need to fade out at such a slow pace. We get back to metal with "Bounty", which feels like a bit of a throwback to the more metalcore-leaning H.L.T.C. of the early 2020s, but still with a healthy technical edge, and Ted's guitar work here is among the best on the album so far (lack of a guitar solo acknowledged). Aggressive but still melodic to keep fans happy, and everyone performs to their strengths! Next is "Cigar With The Devil", which was the third and final advance single with music video before the album came out. Another hard hitting extreme metal song as you'd hope, this benefits from more soloing from Ted and some really varied vocals from Brandon, including his lowest death growling yet!
I do think that the vocal melody is somewhat forced to get these lyrics (especially ones referencing the title) to fit with the song as written, but it's a strong showcase of everyone's skill set, and the guitar flourish alone makes this worth listening to for fans! The clock ticking at the end was at least better for the song than the long fade-out from two songs prior. That's followed by
"God Butter" (née "
Gods Butter"), another advance single but sans a dedicated music video. The longest song on "Built For Us" by a slim margin, it begins more ominously before the song properly kicks into gear, and on this one, it has more a groove metal influence that reminds me more of something off of "Knucklebutter", complete with primarily screamed vocals, albeit getting more guttural until the midpoint. The song has a very deliberate pace at points, while also being full throttle at others, so it'll please many fans!
I would have preferred them sticking to one tempo and vocal style aside from choruses, but it's intense with solid drumming, and despite a somewhat abrupt ending, it never felt overlong! The penultimate track here is "Monster", a song heavily dictated by a steadily pounding guitar riff, not to mention nicely varied harsh vocal styles (even a bit of pig squealing at one point!). This song seemed to have some progressive influence without sticking to a verse-chorus-verse structure, which won't be for everyone, but it's suitably brutal and will get a mosh pit going in concert! Be advised that the song is actually 3:25 with 50 seconds of dead air, which explains its 4:15 runtime on streaming services. I have no idea if that was an error on Heavy Lies The Crown's part or if the silent stretch has a purpose.
"Built For Us" ends with its other released single/music video,
"Celebrate The Night", which opens with a ticking clock, as if it was directly intended to come after "Cigar With The Devil" in the track order. While far from a ballad, this song has (by far) Brandon's most reserved clean singing, and it's definitely the most accessible song on offer with screaming reserved for choruses, often in a backing role. This song has more of a screamo influence from how the vocals are applied, but the song is still heavy, and it makes use of some nice evil laughter near the end! I like my H.L.T.C. to be more aggressive, but this is a catchy song that was arguably a bold choice to end the album with, albeit ending too soon given how things had progressed. So, what are my final thoughts on Heavy Lies The Crown's new album? I'd say that existing fans will easily take to it, especially with the heavier influences!
While the songs are (on average) a little shorter than on their prior album, their encroaching into death metal and deathcore, especially vocally, is a welcome shift, and Brandon was more than up to the task in singing however the songs called for! In his H.L.T.C. swan song, Ted's technical guitar work shone as you'd expect, and their new rhythm section filled their roles capably, with Jaxon drumming beyond his years and Christian's bass steadily filling things out how you want! Songs like "Heart Sex", "Jell-O", and "Monster" piqued my interest the most, but nothing here is bad, and it feels like a natural evolution in sound. However, there was even less of a focus on guitar solos than on "Knucklebutter", and I would have smushed "Intro To Death" into the next song. Plus, some tracks ended too abruptly, and a few songs ramped up the heaviness at the expense of structure, but it hits way more than it misses.
If you want to hear some brutal local original metal from a very
talented E.U.P. band, Heavy Lies The Crown deliver the goods on "Built
For Us", and here's hoping that Nathan Switzer's return on guitar will
ensure that they pick things back up on the right foot for their next
material! Buy or stream this album above, and I hope you guys liked this
month's CD review! Next month, we'll finally take a look at Sault
Ontario progressive metal band Convergence's new EP "Dead & Dreaming", so look for that review and much more on the site in April! Thanks everyone, and have a happy Easter!
