Leaderless – Crown of Dust

Leaderless – Crown of Dust

Out now on all streaming services.

Some bands return from a hiatus sounding rusty, tentative, or worse… irrelevant. Leaderless have done the complete opposite. With their latest EP Crown of Dust, the Freising quintet have come back swinging like they’ve got something to prove, and holy hell, do they deliver. This is a record that doesn’t just hold its own in the melodic death metal space — it bloody well dominates it.

From the first seconds, Kanashibari makes it clear that subtlety is not on the menu. The riffs are huge, the hooks undeniable, and the atmosphere suffocating in all the right ways. It captures the essence of being trapped in your own head, claws of anxiety digging in deep, but wraps it in a song built for both pit carnage and headphones. It’s melodic death metal with a razor edge.

The highlight, though, is Dead Seed. This track is the band’s heaviest effort to date, and the guest appearance from Elfi Davis adds an unhinged brutality that pushes it over the line into jaw dropping territory. Mirabelli and Davis trade off like duelling beasts, and it’s frankly fucking exhilarating to hear. If there’s one track here destined to become a live staple, it’s this.

But Crown of Dust isn’t all just bludgeoning riffs and howling fury. Spires and Coffins proves Leaderless have the melodic sensibility to match their aggression. It’s slower, more deliberate, and topped with a solo that slices through the gloom with surgical precision. Meanwhile, New World Order struts with groove heavy menace, Singularity leans into experimentation with its dystopian vocal treatments, and closer Complacency takes a more restrained but equally powerful approach, burning slowly rather than exploding outright.

What really stands out across the EP is how much Leaderless have evolved. The production is sharp, the songwriting is focused, and the performances are tight as hell. Markus Georg te Heesen and Manuel Rothmund craft riffs that are as memorable as they are destructive, while Wagner and Häußer lay down a rhythm section that never lets up. Mirabelli’s vocal delivery has never sounded stronger, commanding, versatile, and brimming with conviction.

Crown of Dust is the kind of release that reminds you why melodic death metal still matters. It’s not just technically strong — it’s emotionally resonant, lyrically relevant, and heavy enough to knock you flat on your arse. Leaderless aren’t just back, they’re better than ever.