There’s no beating around the bush with Crown Magnetar; they lunge for the jugular with their new EP Alone in Death. Room for breathing is hard to come by during these six relentless songs of vehement tech-deathcore uncoiled by the Colorado four-piece. The album wittily opens with the title track, who’s synth intro mimics a waining danger alert. Trouble inevitably does arrive when the band lets fly its shock-and-awe exhibition, firing off gravity-blasts, turbo heal-toe doublebass, rapid-picked riffs, and knuckle-dragging beatdowns. The brutality continues with “Hellsphere,” acquainting us further with vocalist Dan Tucker, who can hit you with inhale-gutturals, pig-squeals, and trebly screams. Tucker’s baseline voice is common amongst modern deathcore singers, ...
