Band: Crown The Lost
Album title: Bliind Faith Loyalty
Label: Cruz Del Sur
Distributor: Sonic Rendezvous
Release date: April- May 2009
Release: CD

This Pittsburgh (Philladephia) based Progressive/ Melodic Thrash Metal act was founded by former Sinning Is Our Savior bassist David E. Gehlke (whom took the new bandname from the Suidakra song off the 2003 Signs For The Fallen album) in April 2005, Gehlke switching to rhythm guitar in the process. The band went through quite a bit of line-up changes: original lead guitarist Andy Hart was eventually replaced by former Sinning Is Our Savior singer/ guitarist Joe Bonaddio, the bass position saw former SIOS’ Ryan Eicheldinger replaced by Shaun Gunter, whom was just recently replaced (late 2008) by one Dom Scarano (originally a guitarist), and the drum stool has seen other former SIOS bandmembers pass the revue (Jon Rice - now with Job For A Cowboy – and Nick Bentzel), as well as one Jordan Villella, before settling on Kevin Antonacci. However, throughout all these changes lead singer Chris Renaldi has shown himself a reliable ally!

In September 2006 the band self-released their debut full-length Revenge Dies Within, which got the band such lauding comments like “…musically accomplished and eminently memorable…” and “…one of Thrash Metal’s outstanding new groups…”, gaining a strong following on both sides of the Atlantic ocean. Following a year’s songwriting spree, CTL eventually went back into the studio from January to June 2008 with producer/ engineer Dave Watson, to record their newest album. The material eventually caught the attention of Italian quality Indie label Cruz Del Sur, with whom they signed a deal in October 2008…its owner Enrico Leccese stating “I’m very excited about releasing Crown the Lost’s Blind Faith Loyalty. Few newcomers made such an impact on me as when I first heard CTL’s first self-released album, so I felt I had to follow the evolution of the band closely. Then came the first cuts from Blind Faith Loyalty and I was so blown away by their perfect balance between aggressive Thrash metal and Classic Heavy Metal that I felt the urge to offer them to be part of our roster…”

Well, the band certainly takes a somewhat different vocal approach from your usual Thrash Metal outfit, opting for a soaring clean style in stead of the more aggressive vocals typical to the sub-genre! You still get some grumbled aggressive backings here and there, but they’re really a minority. The guitar players are well in sink with each other, the lead guitarist showing a high degree of technical ability. The boys also show a taste for diversity, alternating more aggressive tracks (like album opener “Defame The Hypocrites” and the ensuing “Drawing The Parallel”) with more catchy and song-oriented tunes (“Bound To Wrath”, “Dreaming In Reverse”) and multi-faceted Thrash Metal anthems (“Symbiotic”, “Finality”).

At myspace.com/crownthelostmetal, you can listen to “Defame The Hypocrites”, “Blind Faith Loyalty”, and “Bound To Wrath” (all of which are over two minutes longer than the versions on the album)…alongside three songs off the band’s self-released 2006 album! At first, you might find frontman Chris Rinaldi’s voice to be somewhat heady and with a slight touch of nasal, but as you’ll progress through the album, you’ll easily get used to that. Also, the band eventually shows itself much more diverse than on the two more aggressive opening tracks! In conclusion, a very nice album, but you dó need to let it sink onto you before actually getting to like/ love it!

89/100

Tony.