MACE 'N' CHAIN ​​- Crowned In Gray Skies

vote
7.5

• Bands:
  MACE 'N' CHAIN
• Duration: 00:40:58
• Available from: 06/26/2026
• Label:

• No Remorse Records

This type of metal must not appeal to everyone, not even among the same audience that listens to this musical genre. David Nilsson's Mace 'n' Chain, former singer in Feral – a Swedish death metal group – know this well, having arrived at their second official album (under No Remorse) entitled “Crowned In Gray Skies”, with their doom-tinged epic metal dirtied by a healthy patina of raw and primordial sound.
Three years ago, on the occasion of the debut “Among Ancient Pillars”, we wrote to keep an eye on this project that pays tribute to the most classic epic metal because there was room for growth, and the new album by the Swedish duo, enriched by the presence of Joey Mancaruso on drums and several special guests on solos – such as Shon Vincent of Smoulder and Matte Marklund of Vintersorg – fully confirms what we hoped for.

Since the first “On The Howling Gale” we find a band that has matured in many ways, with a production finally worthy of a modern group and a boundless love for everything that ranges from Cirith Ungol to Bathory, passing through Manilla Road. Nilsson's epic voice this time is much more combative and well-framed, especially in those doom passages that characterize some songs like “Through Blood Red Veils” or in the march “Triumphant Return”, capable of immediately catapulting us into an era of raids and barbarians.
The trademark of Arthur Rizk, now the mastermind of this scene, can be heard very well, at a mixing level, especially in the valorization of the choirs, which in the previous album were all too suffocated by somewhat confused sounds: songs like “The Spine Of Night” and the single “Writhe, Oh Wyrm” really make you want to read the choruses and sing them in pure epic metal style, despite their almost declamatory verbosity.
Nilsson clearly wants to tell us stories, and he chooses to do so with a style far from the banal song form, very emphatic and theatrical, closer to the drama of the reference groups mentioned above: as we wrote at the beginning, this choice must not please everyone, especially if proposed in such a radical key and not suitable for any type of ears, not so much due to the structure of the pieces, but precisely because of the form with which the songs are conceived.
There is never a moment to relax, especially when you get to the very tense “The Portal of Power”, this time really a pretext to make those who accidentally find themselves under the stage mosh while Ours are playing, while the rhythmic and final “Rise Above The Light” seems like a song of warriors returning from the battlefield.

Also enhanced by the presence of a highly respectable parterre of guitarists – given that in addition to the two most impactful names mentioned there are also Tucker Thomasson of Throne Of Iron, Jeffrey Young of By Fire & Sword and Markus Lindhal of Feral – “Crowned In Gray Skies” is one of those clear examples of how epic metal can be written in 2026 without being either too derivative or too misaligned with the clichés of the genre.
No Remorse proves once again to be a label capable of uncovering talent and giving visibility to projects that can truly reach the hearts of those who feed on swashbuckling and fantasy literature, and David Nilsson proves himself to be a multifaceted composer capable of moving from the putridity of Feral to the bright banners of Mace 'n' Chain: let's hope that this project doesn't remain confined to the studio but that sooner or later it will be possible to see it live!