Thorn Crown – Rust

Thorn Crown
Rust
1994 (no label)
Cato, Wisconsin, USA

Al Dale – Lead vocals
Jeff Weiss – Lead, rhythm, acoustic guitars, lead vocals on *, BGVs
Todd Lehman – Rhythm and acoustic guitars
Sean M. Kelly – Bass, BGVs
Jon-Paul LeClair – Drums, tambourine, box of aluminum bolts, BGVs

Josh James – Harmonica, flute

Side 1:

1. World Gone Black*
2. Chances
3. Hard Life
4. Wasted Me*
5. Leave It Behind
6. Gone

Side 2:

1. Home*
2. No
3. Slipping Through My Hands*
4. Reflection of Me
5. Times of Grace

This tape displays a bit more progression into the world of grunge from 1993’s And I Pray. It starts off with the bands most well-known track “World Gone Black” – and also one that has a noticeable Pearl Jam influence. This song got some national attention when it was included on the R.E.X. Music Demo-Lition II underground compilation. While most (but not all) of the metal influences of the last demo are gone, they are not really just cookie-cutter grunge, either. Even when you can see some of their grunge influences, they are still forging their own sound. This sound would be more fully realized when some of the members of this band soon formed Reflescent Tide. In fact, “Wasted Me,” “Home,” and ” Slipping Through My Hands” were all re-recorded by Reflescent Tide for their 1995 self-titled debut CD. Interestingly, these are three of the four songs (along with “World Gone Black”) that Jeff Weiss (who would later lead Reflescent Tide) sang lead vocals on as well.