Norway’s Blood Red Throne return with their eighth studio album. For those of you that are not familiar with this group was started by Dod (Satyricon) and Tchort (Emperor) and have been around since 1998 and they play a murderously American style of brutal old school death metal.
Union of Flesh and Machine opens with “Revolution of Humankind” which opens extremely catchy almost Bloodbath or Grave styled riffing transitioning into more sharp augmented riffs with punching blasts and double kick parts that could insight a circle pit at a drop of a hat. Yngvie “Bolt” Christiansen’s (Grimfist) vocal work is sick mixing up the brutal growls with well placed shrieks throughout.
“Proselyte Virus” is another strong mid paced song demonstrating their ability to keep the song structures simplistic, not overly intricate but extremely enjoyable to listen to. Bassist Ola Bent Madsen makes his presence felt towards the end of this track. It is nice to hear an old school death metal band with excellent production values. The guitars feel as though you are being stabbed in the neck repeatedly with an ice pick. Patriotic Hatred” is definitely my favorite song on the record, which opens with a sample form the video game Hatred, that really works well and has a slow tapping disjointed harmony intro that reminds me of Hate Eternal which segues nicely into more traditional styled grooves that are accustomed to these Norwegians.
Blood Red Throne – Revocation of Humankind – Lyric Video_ from BLOOD RED THRONE on Vimeo.
It is difficult to not point out all of the Cannibal Corpse influence on Union of Flesh and Machine. There seems to be a similar approach in transitions. Union of Flesh and Machine does feature a very tasty cover of Judas Priest’s “Leather Rebel”. “Mary Whispers Death” closes this awesome record with trademark stomp parts that bring this album to a triumphant finish. This is definitely the best effort so far is this particular Blood Red Throne lineup. These guys put a great deal of time in between albums and their has been a consistent quality to their work over the last eighteen years. Union of Flesh and Machine is a testament to their commitment to harnessing their approach to death metal.
In a year that has already been filled with a plethora of solid death metal this album has me applauding the whole way through. If you have not heard Blood Red Throne before this album is an excellent representation of what is great about their style. Every song feels like a circle pit and a lot of bands could take note of the simplicity of the riffing and the genius of Blood Red Throne songwriting. My neck is sore from head banging. Horns way up for this.
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I love this band’s first three albums, but the albums after that were disappointing to my ears. This however sounds really good. I’ll have to reexamine these guys.
on Jul 11th, 2016 at 12:05I think this is the best one since Altered Genesis. Feels very much in that vein.
on Jul 11th, 2016 at 14:43According to B.R.T guitarist.. Bolt does not sing for Grimfist. Learn something new every day.
on Jul 12th, 2016 at 15:37Love this band, but their last album was awful. Hoping this one is a return to what made them good. Preview track sounds pretty bad ass.
on Jul 13th, 2016 at 23:18Ok, I bought the download today. This album rules, and is easily on par with this band’s best work. Every song on the album could be an opener.
on Jul 15th, 2016 at 13:22