About.com Rating

Among the dozens of CDs that cross my desk in a week are releases from major labels, indie labels, and from the bands themselves. Where the CD comes from has no bearing on its quality. There are plenty of major label releases that are crap and a lot of self-released CDs that are really good. Crown The Lost falls into the latter category.

Crown The Lost are from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and students of the old school.


Reverence Dies Within is jam packed with great thrash riffs and solos. The guitar work of Joe Bonaddio and David E. Gehlke is both creative and technically skilled. The songs on the CD are more than just riffs, though. There are also some very catchy hooks and memorable choruses.

Chris Renaldi is the band's vocalist, and his style is unique. His voice is higher pitched than the usual thrash singer and has the vibrato that is heard a lot in power metal and traditional metal. It's very theatrical and emotional and actually fits in well with the band's thrash sound. There are also some background vocals from Icarus Witch's Matthew Bizilia.

In addition to the old school thrash, Crown The Lost also delves into more extreme genres of metal with some blast beats and other brutal touches. For a debut CD this is a really polished and skilled effort. The only misstep is the hardcore style vocals in part of one song that sound a bit out of place. Otherwise this is an excellent CD from a band worthy of label attention.