Metal/Review The Lazz - The Crown
"The Lazz" is a high-concept metal project led by Ben Lazzaro, a veteran composer and guitarist with over 40 years of performance experience (est. 1982). Lazzaro is not only a seasoned musician but also a formally trained visual artist, holding an Associate of Science in Visual Communication (Honors) and bringing 13 years of professional experience as a 3D digital artist in the video game industry.
The Lazz returns with “The Crown,” a cinematic modern metal track that combines heavy musicianship with an ambitious exploration of identity, transformation, and the darker consequences of personal growth. Opening Act IV: The Return in the project’s ongoing Jungian-inspired narrative, the song continues The Lazz’s examination of shadow work and the psychological masks people can construct even after achieving greater self-awareness.
Musically, “The Crown” draws from a broad spectrum of metal styles, incorporating groove metal, melodic metalcore, djent, thrash, and power-metal influences. Heavy syncopated riffs provide the track with a forceful rhythmic foundation, while contrasting male and female vocals add another dimension to its presentation. The combination allows the song to move between aggression and melody without losing sight of its conceptual focus.
The central idea is particularly intriguing. Rather than presenting transformation as the final destination, “The Crown” examines what can happen afterward, when newfound self-knowledge begins to inflate the ego. The metaphor of the crown becomes a fitting representation of that danger: personal growth can itself become another identity to cling to, turning awareness into a new mask. It is an idea that gives the track considerably more substance than a conventional metal narrative about overcoming adversity.
The accompanying cinematic music video further strengthens this concept, placing the song within a larger narrative world while maintaining enough independence for the track to stand on its own. Listeners unfamiliar with the preceding chapters can still engage with its themes and musical intensity.
“The Crown” ultimately succeeds by bringing together technical ambition, cinematic storytelling, and psychological introspection. The Lazz demonstrates that modern metal can function not only as an outlet for intensity but also as a vehicle for examining the complicated territory that exists between transformation, identity, and ego.
