According the Crown‘s website, Crown is “two men, two guitars, a voice and machine, …an extraordinary duo, trio or man-machine, whose compositions clean, direct and catchy, used as raw material to further the noise limits”.

And that’s pretty accurate as Crown are in fact a French duo with both members once serving in Hollow Corp, a respectable French post rock band who dropped a decent album on Prosthetic Records back in 2008. But this new iteration is a little more ambient and drone-y than Hollow Corp and this 30 minute, 5 song EP certainly has a lot more promise.

Taking more cues from the likes of Neurosis, Godflesh and to these ears a  heavy Jesu influence, Crown is content to cater to the more patient listener. As while there are some pretty heavy, downtuned, heaving, almost industrial/ mechanized riffs, they are often more repetitive and drone-y and buried within ambient builds  and lulls. Throw in some delicate strings and programming, some chanted, churchy vocals amid some distant roars, and the Jesu inference is pretty obvious.

But, the duo and their drum machine certainly pull it off as The One is a solid, if short debut. Highlights being the more lumbering, plodding riff based moments like the “Cosmogasm”, the multi-hued title track and “Mare”  But there’s a little unsettling ambiance mixed into the heft here and there as shown by “100 Ashes”. And Trent Reznor/Nine Inch Nails enthusiasts will appreciate the nods buried in sprawling 9 minute closer “Orthodox”.

A nice little find from a veteran duo, who I really hope develop and flesh out their considerably impactful sound even more.

[Visit the band's website]

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