by Derric Miller
— Managing Editor —
Swiss Metal band Headless Crown are back with their second album, Century of Decay, with a narrative heavily influenced by the likes of Science Fiction writers a’la Phillip Dick, and a sound just as heavily influenced by the likes of Judas Priest, Saxon and Accept. Sound like something you want to hear? Good, because you should …
Headless Crown was formed back in 2011, although their debut didn’t reach the light of day until 2015. Back in 2011, if you remember the band Silver Dirt, that’s where lead singer Steff Perrone came from. They were a different animal, a Hard Rock band that was more Sleaze and glitz than Metal, but Perrone certainly morphed into exactly what Headless Crown needed as the voice of the band, and also the main storyteller behind the tale of Century of Decay.
The album opens with title track and it’s a burner; all angst and darkness and hopelessness. “In this city, there’s not hope; just a shade of dark and gray.” The churning riffs do hearken back to bands like Accept and even more so Metal Church—it’s full on Heavy Metal time here. Guitarist Manu Froehlicher formed the band with Perrone, and his blistering leads and solos are not offset by the fact he even created the intricate cover art. This release is in every essence of the idea, a true band project.
If there’s anything less radiant than grey, it doesn’t sound like it on the second track, “Radiant in Grey.” This is a song about being caught up in Big Brother’s Machine, just another sub-human cog meant to produce for the Industrial Society. “What is it worth living for? A nameless identity … I am no more.” Where Perrone usually sings with a controlled aggression, this song does go harsher vocally at times. Like most of the songs on Century of Decay, this song is pulled along by minimalistic lyrics and a huge wall of sound.
Each song grows bleaker, and “Grinder of Souls” certainly matches that definition. Throughout the story, the unnamed main character is only kept alive by his dreams of a better life, that maybe someday he will find a reason to exist outside the soiled air of his mechanical surroundings where no one is an individual.
So the main character formulates a plan to escape, which breathes new life into the story on “Plan 9.” Perrone sings with a bit of lower toned Geoff Tate during the opening verses, a nod to Operation: Mindcrime one can intuitively leap to. This one of the slower yet chunkiest guitar passages songs, with Doomy riffs and antiseptic, nearly non-musical melodies. In other words … it seems The Machine is winning, no matter what dreams may come.
“The End” is not really the end, yet, but it’s the breaking point for the main character. He’s had it; death is better than his non-existence. The day is set—he’s going to escape or die. There’s still a slight bit of hope in the lyrics, but there’s a reason this is a dystopian tale. You can’t help but hear some Iron Maiden in the galloping riffs from Froehlicher and the other guitarist, Ced Legger.
Not to ruin the ending, because you’ll have to hear it and dissect it for yourself, the final track “Degree Absolute” is the culmination of his attempt to escape, his burgeoning hope, and then as the French-speaking Swiss would call it, the denouement. With fevered riffs, completely machine-like drumming from Carlos Bensabat, and vocals bereft of the idea that the sun also rises tomorrow … this is the end.
Century of Decay is basically one cool ass album by some gifted musicians who understand where Heavy Metal came from, how to make it original and bring it into the now, and also, how to write an intriguing story around the entire sonic landscape.
Genre: Heavy Metal
Line-Up:
Steff Perrone – Lead Vocals
Manu Froelicher – Guitar
Ced Legger – Guitar
Mack Machet – Bass
Carlos Bensabat – Drums
Tracklisting:
01. Century Of Decay
02. Radiant In Grey
03. The Blackness
04. Grinder Of Souls
05. Listen
06. Plan 9
07. Outermind Travel
08. The End
09. The Eyes Of The Crow
10. The Manipulators Of Dreams
11. Degree Absolute
Label: Massacre Records
Online: http://www.headlesscrown.com/
https://www.facebook.com/headlesscrown.official
Hardrock Haven rating: 
(8.2 / 10)
