CROWN THE EMPIRE | Sudden Sky | Album Review

Metalcore bands of the "scene" era have irrefutably gone through changes to deviate away from their past sound. It's such a prevalent occurrence in the genre that it gets kind of tiresome to even bring it up. Crown The Empire is just one out of many bands that originated at this point that has gone through such a change. There is an interesting evolution process if one were to examine all four of their albums. Whereas "The Fallout" was much more akin to the breed of metalcore that included an unending supply of breakdown riffs and harsh vocals, "Retrograde", the band's previous album was much more melodic and experimental in parts. Not every disc this band has made sounds exactly like the other, and that's the kind of ambition you should never be ashamed of as a band. Their fourth project, "Sudden Sky" is an even further deviation from the material heard on "Retrograde". The press release by the band states that the album is a "digital representation" of where the band is creatively. They also waste no time in describing the concept of the album with the following quote: "It captures our innermost fears and anxieties while questioning humanity and the chaos of the world we live in today. This urgent search for meaning taught us that the only way to truly be human is to be vulnerable." That is an interesting and alluring blueprint for an album and while there is an influx of music nowadays alluding to the flaws in our world and the vulnerability of humanity, Crown The Empire do seem to have good intentions to make something that will last. 

A total of four singles preceded the album's release, two of which were actually released last year when there was no official announcement for the album. The singles, in order of release, are "20/20", "What I Am", the title track, and "Mzry". Out of these four singles, "20/20" and "What I Am" were the ones released last year. And going even further in deciding which of the two are the better songs, that honor in my opinion should go to "20/20", which is the first actual song on the album. There is a short minute and a half long intro beforehand that is mostly spoken word, and that's fitting as it is, but after the intro we are greeted to what's easily one of the better songs on the album. "20/20" foreshadows the style that is prominent throughout "Sudden Sky", which is mostly standard hard rock with electronic effects. The clean vocals come in from Andy Leo Rockhold and are solid throughout, and his screamed vocals are not that bad either her. He's able to do both, and that is especially considering their original screaming vocalist, David Escamilla, had parted ways with the band two years before the album's release. Even though there are gruffer moments, "20/20" is a hard rock track through and through, and so is "What I Am" although that has much less appeal. It's not bad, but it really comes across as one of the more vapid tracks on this set. 

The primary style of this album sounds much like a heavier Twenty One Pilots without the rap moments. You easily get that from tracks such as "Mzry" and "Blurry (Out Of Place)", two of the strongest songs here. Both tracks start off in a calm and collective way before throwing you right into the rock sound that is the standard for this album. "Mzry" is worth noting here because not only is the melody of the song well executed, but there are also electronic effects that blend in much better on this album than on most other albums that have tried it. I think it's because Crown The Empire are putting the electronic and hard rock styles in a blender instead of making an album that is hard rock one track, meanwhile there's a three or four song stretch of EDM pop. Doing it as shown on tracks like "Mzry" is much more acceptable and works better than what Bring Me The Horizon or I Prevail did on their recent albums. After a couple of tracks like "Red Pills" and "Sequ3nce" that take advantage of the hard rock meets electronic idea and execute it well, we're greeted to "March Of The Ignorant", which is the best song on the album. In what is the softest song on the album, you get some of the best lyrical moments of the entire album here while also having a rhythm that meshes so well with the vocal line. It's sort of similar to "Oxygen" on their last album, and this song is just as well executed if not better executed. 

Unfortunately, there are some flaws on this album. Taking the spoken word intro out of the equation, the album is only nine tracks total, making the album short at just thirty four minutes. There could have been more material added to "Sudden Sky" to make it a bit longer. Also, some of the tracks are rather forgettable. I already pointed out "What I Am", but there isn't much to be said about tracks such as the title track which closes out the album as well as "Under The Skin". They're tracks that really just exist and aren't the true highlights, but given the fact that these are NOT terrible or even bad songs to begin with, that's a good sign for the quality of an album. Crown The Empire prove on "Sudden Sky" that they are not trying to copy and paste the trajectories that other bands have went with their sound and they're completely unique from the rest. While I don't feel that this album doesn't hit home every single time with every single track, Crown The Empire have still created something that can be understood, even if the album doesn't exactly work for a listener. Overall, this Texan metalcore band are evolving in their own individual way and are doing a pretty good job. If you want a band that can evolve from a past style and make it work, while expanding the sky above them, this is worth checking out. 

RATING: 7/10 

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