UMUR
"Crown Waits the Immortal" is an EP release by Finnish death metal act Purtenance. The EP was released through Drowned Productions in September 1991. Purtenance formed in 1989 under the Purtenance Avulsion monicker and released a couple of 1990/1991 demos under their original name before cutting the Avulsion part from their band name. "Crown Waits the Immortal" is the first release under the Purtenance monicker. The EP features three tracks and a total playing time of 9:38 minutes. "Apparition of the Mist" is a relatively short instrumental intro track, while both "A Dark Cloud Arises" and "Crown Waits the Immortal" are more regular length death metal tracks featuring growling vocals. The two latter tracks would be re-recorded and included on Purtenance debut full-length studio album "Member of Immortal Damnation" from 1992.
Stylistically the material on "Crown Waits the Immortal" pretty much sums up everything I think of when I think of old school Finnish death metal from the early 90s. It´s simply an archetypical release from that time. Raw and murky sound production values, a brutal, gloomy, and morbid sounding death metal style, and brutal cavernous growling vocals. Tempos which vary between fast, mid-paced, and doomy. This is as organic and authentic old school as it gets...
...Purtenance aren´t the most original sounding death metal band from Finland, but they do what they do with great passion and conviction, and fans of the old school Finnish death metal sound (contemporary artists like Abhorrence, Demigod, and Convulse) should find a lot to appreciate here. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.