Hailing from Hartford, Connecticut, metal makers CROWN OF SCORN offer to you their latest effort 'Agenda 21', a bouncy and melodic record that gives you everything you'd expect from an American death/thrash quartet. With a leisurely but forceful sound that I personally would describe as 'grim', this group seem to be centred mainly on the guitars. The rest of the band do follow suit excellently, and they jell well together, but fail to impress; as they tend not to stand their ground, so to speak.

Proceedings get under way with album opener 'Depopulation Process', a thrashy intro continues into a heavy melodic attack, filled with pinch harmonics that follow a calm walking pace. And although the pace is relaxed, the over-all mix is in no way short of aggression, as the scratchy, gravelly vocals of Allyan Lang Lopes solidify the groups place amongst their heavier companions.

Track 05 'Sustainable Developments' shows the band get into their 'groove' a little more, with the guitars taking a more interesting and slightly obscuring path, in comparison to the rest of the record. A drop to half time mid-way through the track is a welcome change, giving a depressive, grungey taste that stays stale in the mouth.

The stand out track on the record is easily, with absolutely no shadow of a doubt, title track 'Crown of Scorn'. A smooth guitar riff fades in slowly before the group kick in as a whole, on this piece they all the cogs seem to be working together a lot better, and the track sounds greater as a whole. A lovely rhythmic lyrical run features in the middle here that is bound to get fans screaming along, as it's simply fun to join in with. By far the best effort on the production.

To conclude, CROWN OF SCORN are certainly a metal band and tick all of the boxes required to be included in the genre, making for a good listen. However, it appears that everything revolves around the two guitarists, and this becomes a problem when creativity begins to lack. As a group, for me, they didn't retain interest and I found myself sufficiently bored by the end of the album. The guitars follow relatively the same structure and the group comply, saved slightly by the vocals but then again even they weakened at points. Not bad, but not great. There's always time for improvement.