WELCOME TO THE COVEN OF THE TEN THOUSAND CROWS
- Kirsty Shepherd
- Jun 20, 2025
- 5 min read
Sydney horror-inspired core band ten thousand crows have unleashed their debut album 'coven', following their 2021 EP release 'macabre arcana'. If you like a band that can seamlessly blend hardcore, metalcore, deathcore and deathmetal, this is the band for
you. "Coven tells the story of a clandestine cult—The Coven—bent on summoning an ancient apocalyptic force known only as The Lord of Crows. As their dark rites unfold, the album takes listeners on a descent into madness, fanaticism, and the end of all things." - spotify
the first time I listened to this album I was genuinely speechless and had so much to say at the same time. it is safe to say that I have been initiated to the coven of the Lord of the crows.
"welcome to the coven!". 'Malleus maleficarum' will initiate you with 1 minute and 24 seconds of brutality. hold on to your socks because you are in for the ride of a lifetime.
“Lord of crows, we bear our soul, Bring misery of the likes you've never known”. 'cathedral' is the second track to this album. if you are looking for a circle pit song with face melting guitars and drums that will leave you speechless, you have found it. instrumentally I was reminded of early suicide silence, not in the way that 10kcrows was heavily inspired, but by the way that suicide silence in the beginning would make you feel, it hits hard into your very soul. “Bow down to the lord of crows”.
“Sacrifices one by one”. 'All that is flesh shall suffer' is the third song. you will be dragged through this track by your hair with the Rolling triplets, Breakdown and Chunky guitars before a Clean cut at the end that will rip you right out of the chaos. “run for your life”.
next up is my personal favourite and bringer of nightmares, 'Dont go into the forest'. “You’ll die alone in here, no one will ever find you.” Haunting wails and tortured screams from the forest will put a shiver up your spine. My body literally felt like it was trying to flee out of it’s skin. “Don’t go into the forest. There’s nothing here but suffering and death, don’t go into the forest, there’s nothing here, there’s nothing left.”
“I’m going to escape this place”. 'sea of eyes' feels like the final step before being dragged under the water that is the cult of the lord of the crows, like your face is the only thing remaining above the water before you take your final breath. “Will I ever be found”. Musically this song is a seamless blend of hardcore, metalcore and death metal. “Needles under my skin, pulling me down, f**king pulling me down”.
'species-wide misery' musically has The overall tone at the start of the track like a hymn being sung at a church, soft, angelic and slightly unnerving. “Again, again, it’s all a game”. This track is the first time you really feel the shift towards the maddening downward spiral. The resonance of the instruments has changed to something more accepting of being part of the coven, instead of the oppression of being lured into one, the sound has opened up giving more space to breath. “I am misery”.
“Malevolent god i beg, malevolent god i beg, take from me these visions in my head”. 'woven in tongues' is frantic on so many levels at the same time it can almost be hard to keep up, but, the rolling drums, hammering guitars and distraught vocals will have you riding along for the adventure, whether you wish to or not. “malevolent god i beg take this sorrow in my chest”. Pleading to a malevolent god will get you nowhere, but when you are in the coven it will be the only logical cause of action. “Humanity will never be the same”.
“Broken promise from the start”. 'i. noctorn of sorrow' starts with Cutting floor tom and high hats that really help to set the tone of where the song is going to go. “I wear the scars from your hands in the shape of a cross”. This song sits so heavily in the chest, despair and sorrow are all encompassing.
“How could you do this to me? how could you do this to us?”.
“I watched the world sway from my place at the end of the rope it only took a moment to dispel any chance of lingering hope”. 'ii. beneath the branches of the hanging tree'. the song beings with the Tortured screams of someone calling out into the universe as their life fades to black, the music reflex this, with the beginning
remaining soft, until the final sense of despair kicks in and the music kicks into brutality once more. “I feel at peace for the final time”. I apologise to anyone in the future who has to watch me see this song performed live, fair warning i will be a blubbering mess. “There’s no coming back from this”.
“I watched the world sway from my place at the end of the rope it only took a moment to dispel any chance of lingering hope”. 'iI. beneath the branches of the hanging tree' begins with the Tortured screams of someone calling out into the universe as their life fades to black, the music reflex this, with the beginning remaining soft, until the final sense of despair kicks in and the music kicks into brutality once more. “I feel at peace for the final time”. I apologise to anyone in the future who has to watch me see this song performed live, fair warning i will be a blubbering mess. “There’s no coming back from this”.
the climax of this tale will find you at 'iii. the mourning sun'. the entire time I was listening to this song my body was tingling all over, like it was waiting for something terrible to happen. "the end begins". between the insane drumming, heavy and melodic guitars, angelic choir and tempo changes it was hard to not be on edge. "his eyes are open they're filled with hate". i'm going to take you on a side quest for a second, their is an episode in doctor who where an ancient god is kept asleep and woken through the power of song, and in my opinion this song gives the exact same feeling of the horror and despair once that god is arisen. I hope to never meet this god but I am thoroughly thrown into his path and will remain there to listen to this album on repeat.
I just want to thank ten thousand crows for the early access to the album so I could review it before launch day.
for vinyls, merchandise and accessories follow the link to 10kcrows website.
what was your favourite song on the album?
9.5/10
