Apoch's Metal Review - Majesty: Own the Crown CD Review

Discography	Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed.
Full-Length(s):	Keep It True (2000) • Sword & Sorcery (2002) • Reign in Glory (2003) • Hellforces (2006)
EP(s):	Sons of a New Millennium (2006)
Single(s):	Keep It True (2001)
Demo(s):	First Demo (1998) • Metal Monarchs (1999)
Compilation(s):	Own the Crown (2011)
Live CD(s):	Metal Law (2004)

Review

Majesty formed back in 1997 in Lauda, Germany, not the group from Berlin. Technically speaking, the group hasn't been officially active under this monicker since then, as the name had shifted briefly in 2008 to Metalforce, issuing a full-length album and a handful of singles. Thankfully the group switched back from such a cheesy title in early 2011, and to celebrate this, Massacre Records and Majesty have come together to show Metal fans what a solid compilation is actually made of. This over two hour, two disc release features a best of collection on disc one, and all unreleased, alternate versions, and rare cuts on the next. But, while the concept for this release is solid, does that mean it's a must own for Majesty fans and newcomers?

Surprisingly the album has a consistant audio quality despite the various releases the band has put out. Majesty only issued four full-length recordings, with their debut Keep It True being a self-released effort, and the other three through Massacre Records. Like the albums the songs on disc one come from, the audio has that old-school Heavy Metal sound with an early Manowar attitude and atmosphere of pure Metal worship. The instruments do end up sounding a little different from time to time, but overall the guitars sound pretty heavy for what you would expect on a late eighties Heavy Metal album with a slightly raw sound. The heavier guitar presence and crisper solos are accompanied nicely by a louder bass presence that doesn't dominate the mix, but comes through loud enough that you can hear it without any problems. The drumming is really what seems to differ in the mixes, having cymbols roughly the same volume, but the snares can be tighter or just generally louder, and the same goes for the bass kicks. They could be a little louder and have a nice click, or lower in the mix with a deeper bass driven thud. As far as the best of disc goes, it's pretty solid. There really isn't a single track on it that ends up feeling like it doesn't deserve to be there. The band's obvious metal worship sound is present on every track, with plenty of songs trying to build up an epic atmosphere. It works most of the time, but admittedly not all the songs feel as strong as they could have been in that department. But, some of the better Majesty cuts do find their way in here, such as the catchy and commanding "Metal Law," the "true" Heavy Metal track "Sword & Sorcery" that will hit a note with every nerd following the style due to it's fantastic lyrical content and sound. There's also "Keep It True" which is exactly what you expect, a slightly chugging Heavy Metal "epic" track about keeping the style true to it's roots. There's also the Folkier "Guardians of the Dragongrail" that again finds a strong fantastical tale being woven by the band nicely, reaching traditional Heavy or even Power Metal epic levels, though never really hitting that moment where the song feels like it reached the pinacle of what it could be. "Hellforces" is great to see placed on here, though this track's quality is not as good as the rest and feels a murky in comparison to the rest. It also feels a little odd against the Manowar style tracks thanks largely to it showing off more of a restrained early Judas Priest approach with a more dominating sound that never lets up from the moment it starts with a strong NWOBHM sound.

Of all the songs on this best of disc to really come through as a bit of a downer is "Son of Metal." The song itself is not that good, coming off more like a bland metal worship interpretation of the many that came before it. Aside that, there's also the fact that no one bothered to edit the song properly. "Son of Metal" actually ends with the start of the next song from the previous album fading in, then getting cut off. It feels tacked on compared to the rest of the tracks on this disc, and a simply cutting of the last one or two seconds really would have done well for the flow of the album. If that wasn't an option, then maybe throwing that other track into this mix of this compilation would have worked out nicely to keep it flowing nicely without any abrupt shifts like that. But, even with this slight oversight, disc one makes for a good introduction to Majesty if you're not a fan, and collects much of the band's better material into one collection.

As far as the second disc goes, it ends up being a wild collection of hard to find, unreleased, and alternate cuts of songs. Unfortunately with the digital promo I received, I don't have any distinction as to which tracks were never released and which are just rare or b-sides, but the alternate versions are pretty obvious since they're labeled as such. But, there's really not much to be said about these additional tracks. The title track "Own the Crown" is a pretty strong experience that is enjoyable with a good deal of energy, and "Freedom Warriors" stands out nicely with it's traditional Heavy Metal chugging and epic atmospheres thanks to additional choir harmonizations in the background and generally loud sound with dominating presence. You also cannot ignore the song "Halloween," which isn't so much epic as it is simply catchy from start to finish with that old school Rock atmosphere to it that screams a creepier Alice Cooper rock influence to it.

One of the more impressive cuts to this disc is the orchestral versiobn of "Guardians of the Dragongrail." While the original rendition of the song is far from a bad track, this version is just much better in comparison. The atmosphere generally feels stronger and more passionate despite the lack of an epic sound, and it just better suits what the band is trying to do musically instead of forcing it to that grand sound they originally went with. The song also shows the band's potential outside of just sticking with the traditional true Heavy Metal Manowar method for each track.

This disc finishes up with the four tracks off the group's 1998 First Demo, and shows a different Majesty amid it's lo-fi cassette quality. While the epic sound is there, for the most part it doesn't sound like complete Manowar worship, but in some instances, like "Into the Night," you can't help but feel an old-school Rock sound present moreso with a Heavy Metal touch to it. It's quite interesting to hear, especially after going through the best of of disc one and all the additional bonus material. It's obvious these songs are transfered from an old tape recording as the music does drop out quite often or have some deteriorating white noise from the transfer, making it pretty obvious these are of the unreleased category of material for this part of the release. There aren't many drawbacks to these really. One of the biggest is the distorted demonic style spoken word sections that just sound absolutely pointless. There's also the vocal quality to the release. While the music on these demo tracks are fantastic, the singing is absolutely horrible due to the quality, as well as the performance itself sometimes, such as with "Guidance to Death" which sounds like a washed out distortion or them and a lack of energy in the performance that makes it sound completely amateurish against really professional music.

Own the Crown makes for a solid compilation, and is exactly how these sort of releases should be handled. Including both a best of album with various unreleased and rare tracks, including the band's first demo, is perfect for any fan of the style to get to know the band a little better, and introduce Majesty to newcomers in the most effective way possible. It's sad that this wound up being released eleven years after the band's independent debut album, as it would have made a nice tenth anniversary piece, but even though it's one year late, it still seems to carry that purpose, just with a different anniversary in mind is all. If you're a fan of the "true" Heavy Metal or Power Metal style similar to classic NWOBHM and Manowar-esque material, Own the Crown will be a welcome addition to your collection. Even if you already own all four of the band's full-length releases, this edition has much more to it then a simple best of release that actually gives you a reason to buy it. Own the Crown is a great package, pure and simple, with the only downfalls being how similar to a previously mentioned band almost all the tracks come across as.

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	Digital review copy of this release provided by: Massacre Records.

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