Band: Crown Lands: Album: Apocalypse | Genre: PRogressive rock, Hard rock | Year: 2026
From: Toronto, Canada | Label: InsideOut Music
For fans of: Rush, Led Zeppelin
Crown Lands is a Toronto-based duo with a sound firmly rooted in mid-70s hard rock and prog rock. Unlike a number of other retro-focused bands I’ve covered here, this pair do a great job at keeping those sounds fresh and lively. Depending on how you want to classify prior releases, Apocalypse is their second, third, or fourth full-length release.
“Proclamation I” is a brief and atmospheric intro that leads into a hard-rocking riff on “Foot Soldier of the Syndicate”. Vocalist-drummer Cody Bowles does one of the best Geddy Lee impersonations I’ve ever heard. The Rush comparisons are obvious elsewhere in the music, with inventive and flashy instrumentalism. There’s a sense of grandiosity and purpose to this music, and the band shows a knack for knowing when to dial things back and when to crank the intensity up.
Things calm down a bit in the opening of “Through the Looking Glass”. Eerie, airy synths and gentle acoustic guitar help this song float smoothly forward. When electric guitar comes in, it lends a sense of scale, evoking a fantastic scene like in the album art. The chorus also features some slight hints of alt-rock, which is a nice bit of variation.
“Blackstar” features harmonized guitar lines and an overall-heavier set of influences. Modern metal’s fingerprints are most evident on this song, and I really like the complex bass lines. Replace this band’s high-pitched vocals with a Vocoder, and this might almost be able to pass for a Cynic composition.
The soundscape is much broader and wide-open on “The Fall”. The verses are restrained with some mild funk influence. The chorus draws on some tropes of ’80s hard rock and metal I don’t particularly care for, but the other elements are great.
Closing out side one, “The Revenants I” has the sparsest arrangement yet. Solo acoustic guitar and vocals start things off before cello and synth pads gradually enter the fold. Unfortunately, not much more happens here. Had this even been a much shorter song, I wouldn’t have minded it, but there’s not really enough going on here for me to justify its five-and-a-half minute runtime.
Apocalypse ends with its 19-minute title track, and the tone of it is fittingly epic from the get-go. Dramatic synth arpeggios and big stabs of guitar lead into an energetic and technical instrumental passage. Rush’s influence is again obvious, especially considering their two “Cygnus” compositions.
After the first verse, there’s a slinking passage of cosmic blues that sounds like the lovechild of Hemispheres and Animals. It’s great to hear influences synthesize into something new while still being recognizable. This is also the rare instance for me where the lyrics add to the music. The fantastical imagery is a strong complement for the backing track. Things gradually increase in intensity, forming a clear dramatic arc, and the vocal performance is downright theatrical.
Near this epic’s midpoint, we get a bit of a breather. Flute and guitar weave together for an airy reprieve, but it doesn’t last long. Wonky guitar lines and effects-laden vocals cultivate a disorienting atmosphere. Crown Lands’ instrumental exploits continue, toying around with different time signatures, incorporating themes from earlier in the song, and always pushing the song forward. Heading into the final five minutes, we get another quiet moment. This gentle passage builds to a truly grand and epic conclusion.
Apocalypse is a great record. It wears its retro influences proudly, using them to make something intense and exciting. Riffs are wild and creative, and the multi-parted closer reads as one coherent statement.
Score: 87/100
The Elite Extremophile 