Northern Crown - In A Pallid Shadow

Northern Crown are a heavy U.S. doom based band from Florida, but they take the doom elements and stretch them a bit beyond the standard group. Usually one expects doom to be heavy, dreary guitar passages with thick percussion, mournful vocals, and keyboard or orchestral elements added in with depressing lyrics. When taking a listen to “In A Pallid Shadow” the drear can be felt in the lyrics but the delivery is almost upbeat. One thing listeners will notice that Northern Crown is very keyboard heavy when they start with ‘Leprosarium,’ almost to a proggy, Dream Theater level. The guitar melodies at times amongst the percuss of the drums even sounds like a keyboard at times, and when combined with the rather melodic vocals that sound like a blend of Kamelot meets Stratovarius, the result may leave mixed feelings. Like one wants to be sad about the music but can’t help but rock out to it. The pace is rather slow like doom should be, but with the help of the guitar melodies the track speeds by pretty quick.

Other epic moments can be heard in tracks like the keyboard solo in ‘Last Snowfall’ that further enhances the prog side, or the Opeth-esque guitar bits on ‘8 hours.’ These rather jazzy moments really pull Northern Crown up from being jut another doom band, and while the vocals can tend to be a bit one sided in their heavy metal style singing, the instrumentation keeps the music varied and fresh as possible. ‘8 Hours’ probably features the most bread and butter formula of doom passages through most of the track, but it is still exciting to hear even though the keyboards have a lot more saddened dramatic tones versus the other tracks. The only thing that tends to feel a little stale the drumming, which are a bit overtaken by the keyboards and guitars which opt more for the listener focus.

Northern Crown even throws a ballad in the mix with ‘A Vivid Monochrome’ which is very different from listeners would expect. Mostly piano sounding keyboard with electronic backing sprinkled in, one would think they were listening to more proggy Katatonia vs. something doom laden. The second half is more typical of what one has heard so far on “In A Pallid Shadow” but it is that first half that will really draw listeners. It is raw, organic, and different from the guitar heavy doom that so many have been used to. The vocals even have some great harmonies that haven’t been heard so far. For those looking for drum heavy bits the closing ‘Observing’ features some great moments that kind of tie all the elements of Northern Crown’s work together, making it a bit wild and less straightforward than the other tracks, but makes a nice final statement for the listener.

Ultimately, it is hard to contain “In A Pallid Shadow” to just one genre. The core is doom but there are prog elements and epic elements mixed in that take this beyond just another group trying to be like Candlemass or even a different version of Dio. The mix of music is certainly not a happy listen, but at the same time doesn’t suffocate the way traditional doom does. Northern Crown do a great job on their third full album to give listeners a story that is grim and heart wrenching, yet enough varied music that they won’t get bored or feel the group is overdoing it. While some might say it isn’t raw enough with grimmer tones, this album should suit fans of traditional doom and even power metal will probably find this pretty enjoyable.

4 / 5 STARS


1. Leprosarium
2. The Last Snowfall
3. A Vivid Monochrome
4. 8 Hours
5. Observing


Self released
Reviewer: Colin McNamara
Jul 1, 2020
Next review: YounA - Zornvlouch

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