Deathrace King

The band themselves called it their fourth album. In September 1999 The Crown announced that they had booked Studio Fredman in Gothenburg from 3 November for a session of about three weeks, and that they were rehearsing the eleven songs that would make up the record. Recording began on 3 November 1999 and was not finished until 4 January 2000; according to the booklet, the album was recorded and mixed in 21 days within that span. It was the first time the band had recorded in winter, and between the cold and the studio's air conditioning nearly everyone fell ill at some point, so Johan Lindstrand's vocal sessions had to stop more than once to rest his throat. The line-up was Lindstrand on vocals, Marko Tervonen and Marcus Sunesson on guitars, Magnus Olsfelt on bass and Janne Saarenpää on drums. Fredrik Nordström produced the album together with the band and engineered it, with Tervonen and Sunesson among the assistant engineers; the band were delighted with the sound and thanked Nordström for working around their illnesses. Göran Finnberg mastered it at The Mastering Room the day after the mix. Olsfelt and Tervonen wrote nearly all of the music and lyrics. Two guests appear: Tomas Lindberg, known from At the Gates, on "Devil Gate Ride", and Mika Luttinen on "Total Satan". Alf Svensson painted the cover and Thomas Ewerhard, who had also designed Hell Is Here, did the layout; the back cover carries the slogan "Born to Race!". Ahead of the release Tervonen made a promotional trip to Metal Blade's European office in Germany and gave about ninety interviews. The album reached European shops in March 2000 and North America in May, and a licence deal that also covered Hell Is Here brought a Japanese edition in June. Lindstrand decided to leave the band in January 2001, which made this the last album he sang before his departure. A demo version of "Rebel Angel" later closed the bonus disc of the limited edition of Possessed 13 in 2003.