''Eternal Death'' is the second album of

Crown of Thorns According to the New Testament, a woven crown of thorns ( or grc, ἀκάνθινος στέφανος, akanthinos stephanos, label=none) was placed on the head of Jesus during the events leading up to his crucifixion. It was one of the instru ...

. It was originally released in 1997 and later re-issued under the band's current name, The Crown. This album downplays the

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

-element of the band's sound considerably, favoring instead a more

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...

-oriented sound.

Reception

The album received from 91 to 100 percent approval on

Encyclopaedia Metallum Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives (commonly known as Metal Archives per the URL or abbreviated as MA) is an online encyclopedia based upon musical artists who predominantly perform heavy metal music along with its various sub-genres. E ...

. ''DemonBit'' praised the soundtrack as well as the performance saying that "Every performance here is nothing short of impressive." and praising the ensemble members independently: "Janne Saarenpää absolutely pummels his kit in a truly dynamic performance of blast beats, fills and innovative rhythms. Vocalist Johan Lindstrand delivers coarse shrieks under sustained syllables, giving the blasphemous lyrical content some welcomed emotional power. Guitarists Marcus Sunesson and Marko Tervonen provide perhaps the most interesting aspect of the album, with their masterful blend of concise gothenburg-like and Floridian death metal riff fusion." The re-released version which was published by Dissonance in 2018 received 8.5 out of 10 from Daniel Müller of the ''Cross Fire''.

Track listing

#"Angels Die" – 4:52 (M. Tervonen, M. Olsfelt) #"Beautiful Evil Soul" – 4:10 (M. Olsfelt) #"In Bitterness and Sorrow" – 3:34 (M. Tervonen, M. Olsfelt) #"The Black Heart" – 8:36 (M. Olsfelt) #"World Within" – 5:32 (M. Sunesson, J. Lindstrand, M.Olsfelt) #"The Serpent Garden" – 4:50 (M. Tervonen, M. Olsfelt) #"Kill the Priest" – 1:46 (M. Olsfelt, R. Österberg) #"Misery Speaks" – 4:45 (J. Lindstrand, M. Tervonen) #"Hunger" – 4:50 (M. Tervonen, M. Olsfelt) #"Death of God" – 10:08 (M. Olsfelt)

Personnel

*Marcus Sunesson – guitar *Janne Saarenpää – drums *Magnus Olsfelt – bass guitar *Johan Lindstrand – vocals *Marco Tervonen – guitar *Berno Paulsson – engineer *Göran Finnberg – mastering

References

The Crown (band) albums 1997 albums Albums with cover art by Kristian Wåhlin {{1990s-death-metal-album-stub