ALBUM REVIEW: Apocalypse – Crown Lands
Someone call Doc, CROWN LANDS are travelling back in time, and you’re going with them, no DeLorean required. Their new studio album, Apocalypse, is reshaping the influences of classic rock to fit the modern music world.
CROWN LANDS are a Canadian band that knows how to capture the intrigue of audiences. This latest album may only be seven tracks long, but it is by no means a quick little record. They have managed to bottle nostalgia and bring it into the now. Achieving this with the help of powerful guitar riffs and synth techniques that otherwise felt lost to time.
The record opens with an ethereal instrumental track. Proclamation, however, is not the only track of whimsy on the record. The switch-up of sounds into Foot Soldiers Of The Syndicate is what defines it. Having two tracks of such contrasting energy back to back sets the listener up to expect the unexpected. It’s a showcase of CROWN LANDS ability to create a meandering river-like flow to the record. Given the amount of diverse musical elements on this album, it’s hard to believe they’re a duo, Cody Bowles and Kevin Comeau. Bowles covers vocals, percussion, flutes and even the didgeridoo. While Comeau looks after backing vocals, keyboard, bass and guitars.
When the listener isn’t floating through celestial liminal space to silvery woodwind music, they have iconic hallmarks of 80s rock enveloping them. Through The Looking Glass has echoes of Fade To Black by METALLICA. While the dramatic synths in the title track Apocalypse are something JOURNEY‘s Separate Ways would be proud of. It incorporates cornerstones of what makes 80s rock and metal special while keeping it an homage rather than an imitation.
This album is full of surprises, the biggest being Apocalypse. In today’s snappy, algorithm-driven climate, a close call coming in just shy of 20 minutes is a risk. But it also connects it to the decade that seemed to most inspire them in another way. It doesn’t feel like a coincidence, given albums of the 70s and 80s also include 20-minute songs. It is a rhapsody encompassing everything the other tracks are saying. The addition of lengthier tracks in their repertoire is not uncharted territory for this duo, though. Their track Starlifter: Fearless Pt. II, from their 2023 album Fearless, is an eighteen-minute marathon. So they certainly know what they’re doing.
Rating: 8/10
Apocalypse is set for release on May 15th via InsideOut Music.
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