Canada usually is a great foundation for good quality Metal. In the case of CROWN OF MADNESS we are talking of Death Metal, and I have to say, the soil has worked it's magic again. This band from Port Coquitlam, British Columbia has given us the joy of experiencing their second EP, simply called "Elemental Binding". I do say that CROWN OF MADNESS is a band, but with only two members put down on the information sheet I have trouble seeing how they are going to make this work live.

The reasoning for that is that CROWN OF MADNESS is prone to using quite complex structures, very intricate in the build-up, but most of all because I don't see how one guitar player will be able to provide the depth and heaviness that the music on "Elemental Binding" is bringing to us. Blet's face it, this isn't exactly Old School Death Metal. No, we are definitely talking more in the vein of Technical Death Metal, sometimes even bordering on Math.

I do have to applaud these guys on knowing where to toe the line, to be aware of when it might be going just a tad too far. They really are in control of everything they do, and have devised a calculated response to it all. And still there is that bit of emotion, the feeling that their kind of Death Metal has been written from the heart, not by keeping up with a metronome on speed. it gives the listening experience of "Elemental Binding" that bit of warmth, or if you wat joy, when you listen to it all. CROWN OF MADNESS are really going for the throat, and you as listener will feel it in your breaking bones.

Ad this EP "Elemental Binding" is only just over 14 minutes long, there is no way to predict what CROWN OF MADNESS has to offer for the future, but I do know one thing; if they are able to keep up this level of intensity and especially quality, they should have it in them to reach a whole army of interested Death Metal fans. So, my advice to you, the reader, is to have o good listen, and decide for yourself if this is something you'd like to hear more of. I for one am very much hoping for a continuation of the endeavours of CROWN OF MADNESS. The ultimate challenge for them will be recording a full-length album. oh, and playing live, of course. I wouldn't mind experiencing both of these issues. That's how much they've already bound me.