Crown the Lost

With so many young American metal bands out there following the same metalcore trail, it's sometimes hard to prevent oneself from judging a book by its cover. With Crown the Lost, a young group from Pittsburgh, the pre-listen bias that sometimes kicks in is thankfully totally wrong. Instead of doing what most metal bands in their early 20s do, Crown the Lost inject some of the pose-worthy traditional German power metal moments that we don't often see on this side of the Atlantic. In fact, the majority of the vocals soar in the higher ranges and they are actually sung properly, unlike the overused, whiny moans of so many other bands that employ "clean vocals." Musically, the frenetic pace and near-excessive tapping and soloing can be best compared to the fury that's laid down by Canadian band Into Eternity. Fans of the aforementioned Canadians should definitely give Crown the Lost a chance. Same goes for anyone who can stomach the vocal style or is just looking for a bit of a change from the metal mainstream.