Punishment

Description

Crown Magnetar is on the hunt for blood and buckets of blood. The fact that this proclamation is made for the new EP Punishment - a little over a year after the release of the overwhelming Everything Bleeds in 2023 - might be a shock, even if it makes sense upon closer examination. The band's second album brought a blunt force to the table with its deathcore brutality. This rhythmic rage took the maximalist technicality of death that was at the core of the 2021 debut album, The Codex of Flesh, and the 2022 intermediate EP, Alone In Death, and is delivered here with the sharpness and focus of a razor. That Punishment (released on March 7 on Unique Leader Records) extracts blood from fresh and deep wounds in equal measure, suggesting that the band spent their time at Dream Awake Audio packing their instruments, both literal and decidedly more deadly, filled with those very blades. This is even reflected in the exaggerated titles of "Barbed Wire Noose," "Nailed the F**k Down," and "Decapitation Ritual," which are as much a brutal explosion as the flamboyant rhythms and the double bass that fill them. That these names give the announcement of the single "Bringer of Dead Light" a sweet (on the surface) sound becomes hysterical when it decimates the eardrums. Once again led by producer-turned-bassist Mike Sahm, Punishment is anything but for fans of the Colorado deathcore inhabitants who once again pursue their sequence of annual releases after last year's remixed and remastered EP The Prophet of Disgust. The growth between these debuts and this one has undoubtedly turned listeners into masochists who will devour Punishment with smiles on their faces and has led the band to tour the world with artists like Lorna Shore, Dying Fetus, Suicide Silence, Born of Osiris, Carnifex, Enterprise Earth, and more. Line-Up of Crown Magnetar: Vocals: Dan Tucker Guitar: Nick Burnett Bass: Mike Sahm Drums: Byron London