{"id":85143,"date":"2019-07-16T17:00:28","date_gmt":"2019-07-16T16:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=85143"},"modified":"2023-04-07T14:26:11","modified_gmt":"2023-04-07T13:26:11","slug":"review-crown-the-empire-sudden-sky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-crown-the-empire-sudden-sky\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Crown The Empire \u2013 Sudden Sky"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-85164 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Crown-THe-Empire-Sudden-Sky-Cover-compressor-min-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Crown-THe-Empire-Sudden-Sky-Cover-compressor-min-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Crown-THe-Empire-Sudden-Sky-Cover-compressor-min-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Crown-THe-Empire-Sudden-Sky-Cover-compressor-min-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Crown-THe-Empire-Sudden-Sky-Cover-compressor-min-465x465.jpg 465w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Crown-THe-Empire-Sudden-Sky-Cover-compressor-min-500x500.jpg 500w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Crown-THe-Empire-Sudden-Sky-Cover-compressor-min-600x600.jpg 600w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Crown-THe-Empire-Sudden-Sky-Cover-compressor-min.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Change was inevitable. <strong>Crown The Empire<\/strong> have never stood still. Slowly transitioning away from the metalcore base, each record has been forward-thinking, taking a different approach. \u2018<em>Sudden Sky<\/em>\u2019 continues this trend but with a new-found confidence.<\/p>\n<p>Recent singles \u2018<em>20-20<\/em>\u2019 and \u2018<em>What I Am<\/em>\u2019 were bass led, exciting and grounded. Skewed toward an alt-rock sound, they were a comfortable progression from 2016\u2019s \u2018<em>Retrograde<\/em>\u2019. However, these songs give a false impression of the rest of the record. Synths reign and the metal elements haven\u2019t gone away. Instead, songs such as \u2018<em>SEQU3NCE<\/em>\u2019 and \u2018<em>Red Pills<\/em>\u2019 mix them with a frenzy of other parts. It\u2019s a glitzy Frankenstein\u2019s monster style, but it works surprisingly well.<\/p>\n<p>The band has never shied from working with outside producers and writers. You can tell, everything here is focused and functions correctly, no matter what they\u2019re attempting. Songs such as the slow-burning \u2018<em>Blurry<\/em>\u2019 are simple and hit hard, but others are so hyperactive, they are the metal equivalent of a sugar-fuelled children\u2019s party. However, these guiding hands also create the clinical, manufactured feel of a pop-record. \u00a0Despite this, and unlike similar bands, they manage to retain their personality. This is mainly due to vocalist Andrew Velasquez. Keeping his voice relatively &#8220;real,&#8221; pins the songs together. Especially on the straightforward \u2018Under The Skin,\u2019 where he really shines.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Crown The Empire - MZRY (Official Music Video)\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/USLoXTv-Nzs?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>However, like the band\u2019s entire discography, it can be a frustrating listen. Production tricks are ladled on so thickly, it often becomes distracting. Nothing feels pure and there are so many backwards bits, snyths and sharp turns it can be dizzying. Especially \u2018<em>MZRY<\/em>\u2019 which is almost dubstep in its execution, lurching around from part to part it\u2019s like a toddler having a meltdown in an ice cream parlour.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018<em>Sudden Sky<\/em>\u2019 might just be <strong>Crown The Empire<\/strong>\u2019s best record. \u00a0It may have a cut and paste feel, but a strong sense of identity helps keep it grounded. It\u2019s a synthetic and ambitious but surprisingly heartfelt album.<\/p>\n<p>3\/5<\/p>\n<p>\u2018<em>Sudden Sky<\/em>\u2019 by <strong>Crown The Empire<\/strong> is released on 19th July on <strong>Rise Records<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Crown The Empire<\/strong> links: <a href=\"https:\/\/suddensky.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Website<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Crowntheempire\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CrownTheEmpire\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a> |\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/crowntheempire\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Words by Ian Kenworthy (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WhisperingSand\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@WhisperingSand<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;&#8216;Sudden Sky&#8217; is a glitzy Frankenstein\u2019s monster style, but it works surprisingly well&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":85164,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[5879,411,15621,18,17295],"class_list":["post-85143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-album-reviews","tag-crown-the-empire","tag-ian-kenworthy","tag-rise-records","tag-sudden-sky"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review: Crown The Empire \u2013 Sudden Sky - Already Heard Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"&quot;&#039;Sudden Sky&#039; is a glitzy Frankenstein\u2019s monster style, but it works surprisingly well&quot;\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Review: Crown The Empire \u2013 Sudden Sky - Already Heard Staging\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&quot;&#039;Sudden Sky&#039; is a glitzy Frankenstein\u2019s monster style, but it works surprisingly well&quot;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-crown-the-empire-sudden-sky\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Already Heard Staging\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AlreadyHeard\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-07-16T16:00:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-04-07T13:26:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Crown-THe-Empire-Sudden-Sky-Cover-compressor-min.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ian Kenworthy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@alreadyhearduk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@alreadyhearduk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ian Kenworthy\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Review: Crown The Empire \u2013 Sudden Sky - Already Heard Staging","description":"\"'Sudden Sky' is a glitzy Frankenstein\u2019s monster style, but it works surprisingly well\"","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Review: Crown The Empire \u2013 Sudden Sky - Already Heard Staging","og_description":"\"'Sudden Sky' is a glitzy Frankenstein\u2019s monster style, but it works surprisingly well\"","og_url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-crown-the-empire-sudden-sky\/","og_site_name":"Already Heard Staging","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AlreadyHeard\/","article_published_time":"2019-07-16T16:00:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-04-07T13:26:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Crown-THe-Empire-Sudden-Sky-Cover-compressor-min.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ian Kenworthy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@alreadyhearduk","twitter_site":"@alreadyhearduk","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ian Kenworthy","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-crown-the-empire-sudden-sky\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-crown-the-empire-sudden-sky\/"},"author":{"name":"Ian Kenworthy","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/person\/e00899caa476ac5e5fc7ef785c987de1"},"headline":"Review: Crown The Empire \u2013 Sudden Sky","datePublished":"2019-07-16T16:00:28+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-07T13:26:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-crown-the-empire-sudden-sky\/"},"wordCount":372,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-crown-the-empire-sudden-sky\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Crown-THe-Empire-Sudden-Sky-Cover-compressor-min.jpg","keywords":["Album Reviews","Crown The Empire","Ian Kenworthy","Rise Records","Sudden Sky"],"articleSection":["Album Reviews"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-crown-the-empire-sudden-sky\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-crown-the-empire-sudden-sky\/","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-crown-the-empire-sudden-sky\/","name":"Review: Crown The Empire \u2013 Sudden Sky - Already Heard Staging","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-crown-the-empire-sudden-sky\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-crown-the-empire-sudden-sky\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Crown-THe-Empire-Sudden-Sky-Cover-compressor-min.jpg","datePublished":"2019-07-16T16:00:28+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-07T13:26:11+00:00","description":"\"'Sudden Sky' is a glitzy Frankenstein\u2019s monster style, but it works surprisingly well\"","inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-crown-the-empire-sudden-sky\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-crown-the-empire-sudden-sky\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Crown-THe-Empire-Sudden-Sky-Cover-compressor-min.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Crown-THe-Empire-Sudden-Sky-Cover-compressor-min.jpg","width":800,"height":800},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#website","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/","name":"Already Heard Staging","description":"Covering the best in alternative music as best as we can","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#organization","name":"Already Heard","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/AH-relaunch-logo-white-bg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/AH-relaunch-logo-white-bg.jpg","width":500,"height":500,"caption":"Already Heard"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AlreadyHeard\/","https:\/\/x.com\/alreadyhearduk","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/alreadyheard\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/already-heard\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/AlreadyHeardMusic","https:\/\/tiktok.com\/@alreadyhearduk","https:\/\/www.threads.net\/@alreadyheard"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/person\/e00899caa476ac5e5fc7ef785c987de1","name":"Ian Kenworthy","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3f783f0372cac70e4f23bc75bf8457c1866467c2282723fa8314019f18e66003?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3f783f0372cac70e4f23bc75bf8457c1866467c2282723fa8314019f18e66003?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3f783f0372cac70e4f23bc75bf8457c1866467c2282723fa8314019f18e66003?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ian Kenworthy"},"url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/author\/ian-kenworthy\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85143"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85173,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85143\/revisions\/85173"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}