Once more: never trust completely a name given to a Metal subgenre, because it can deceive you. And evade of calling yourselves as a fan of this genre or that, just give your ears the opportunity of experience different ways of making Metal. It can be said because definitions of subgenres names can't depict the complete personality of a band (only if it's copying others or trying to fit in a model). And such ideas are right if you want to deal and comprehend what the Italian quartet CROWNSHARD is up to with their music, as can be heard on "Awareness". The label used to translate what the band plays is Death/Thrash Metal, but it's not the whole thing.

One can have the idea that some Blackened Death Metal and Black Metal entered their music (as the gloomy melodies shown during the guitar solos, and the bleak darkened ambiences), making things far than the name can describe. The band shows a very good technical level, but without exaggerations, and always in a coherent and great way. It's full of life, aggressiveness and bleeds in energy in a way that can be said as promising that Italy is about to give extreme Metal another great acts. The production is crude, and allows the band's music to flow in an organic and spontaneous form, allowing the fans to understand what's being played (the crude feeling comes from the instrumental tunes chosen by the quartet), but the 'smoky' feeling is present. Obviously that their music needs more than is shown, but for now, it's good.

"There is Nothing Left" is oppressive and brutal, but adorned with many darkened melodies on its arrangements, improving the hooks (and what technical and lovely bass guitar arrangements). On "Feeling Still Cursed", the hypnotic sensation floods the senses thanks to the excellent guitar riffs and solos, and the technical arrangements, and the same appears again on "Mankind Has Failed" (that bears excellent rhythmic contrasts, and with a very good work of the drums). "Eternal Timeless Fall" is filled with a darkened Blackened Death Metal feeling typical of older works of DISSECTION, with many good technical parts and a hooking ambience. And "Healed by the Hell" shows a brutal and oppressive set of rhythms, this time really in a Death/Thrash Metal tendency. But why in the blazes this is just an EP? It could be an album! Listen to it on the quartet's Bandcamp page.

It's great to hear a band as CROWNSHARD, and I hope that "Awareness" will be followed by a full-length as soon as possible (hey, labels, open your eyes and pay attention to these Italians).