Norway’s Blood Red Throne achieved a little attention in the 00s, being an American sound death metal band hailing from the then black metal dominated country of Norway and featuring Tchort of Emperor as well as a rotating line up of other Norwegian luminaries. They released a number of solid, well received albums, notably their second and third albums Affiliated with the Suffering and Altered Genesis. However, the last time I heard these guys was 2007’s Come Death, so I have missed 2 albums. However, here comes lone original member Død (currently thrashing around in Cobolt 60), along with yet another new vocalist and bassist joining the still fresh guitarist and drummer from 2011’s Brutalitarian Regime. And it might have resulted in the band’s best effort in a decade.
The new injections have really energized this band, even if it is still essentially American death metal, but that style of death metal appears to have taken a turn towards the more Belgian side of things (think Aborted) with a thicker, chunkier delivery and a real boost of grooving brutality. New growler Yngve ‘Bolt’ Christiansen has a super deep growl and some standard screeches adding a very authoritative air to the burlier, more intense and reinvigorated death metal. The guitar tone seems a little deeper and less tangibly Floridian, again taking a nod from Dutch/Danish death metal and resulting in a very powerful album.
Each of these tracks is a standout; second track “‘Hymn of the Asylum” gets right too it with a chunky riff and furious blast beat topped of by a simply killer groove at 1:32, that will get your neck slamming like crazy. The same sort of killer lopes surfaces about halfway into second blaster, “In Hell I Roam” and lumbering eighth track “Dodens Makt” which both have nice melodic solos amid the death metal vortex. But that perfect balance of huge grooves and the odd surprising melodies just keep on with its onslaught throughout the entire album: “Torturewhore”, “”Exoneration Manifesto”, hefty “Primitive Killing Machine” and “Deatholation” all rattle your skull with near perfect death metal precision making for a virtually filler free, complete album of death metal goodness.
For some reason I’ve always tied Blood Red Throne and Coldworker together – both Scandinavian bands with prominent members plying Americanized death metal, both spending time on larger labels (Earache and Relapse respectively) and both waited until recently to release the best album of their careers (Coldworker‘s 2012 effort The Doomsayer’s Call kicked all kinds of ass). But with Blood Red Throne being around for twice as long, having a rotating line up and with twice as much output, this self titled release comes as much more of a pleasant surprise. Norwegian death metal has grown since 2001, but Blood Red Throne is certainly poised to remain top the blood red thro…..never mind, too cheesy.
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Huh. This album is certainly getting mixed reviews. I’ve read another one that absolutely destroys this release as this band’s worst album. I loved this band’s first three albums but felt the last three weren’t all that spectacular. Reading this makes me think I need to give this new one a chance.
on Jul 3rd, 2013 at 08:32I could not disagree more. This is one of my top 10 bands and I own nearly all their albums, but I could barely get through this whole thing before I deleted it. The vocals are awful and this thing as a whole is slathered in weaksauce. Check out their last 2 and you’ll see what I mean.
on Jul 3rd, 2013 at 15:36I heard a song or two and wasn’t feeling the vocals, so I let it go as well.
on Jul 3rd, 2013 at 21:43Must be some consumer rivals above because this is really good. Didn’t like the vocals!? It’s fucking Death Metal?! What is not to like!? I have liked everything these folks have out and i never know what the fuck the naysayers are talking about. I’ll play this alongside Desecresy, Eternal Rest, Ade, Feared, Jungle Rot, Krypts…as yet another great 2013 release to groove.
on Jul 4th, 2013 at 00:14wasn’t terribly thrilled with it.
on Jul 7th, 2013 at 07:38So are you saying that death metal vocals are somehow above criticism? That one should like them no matter what just because it’s death metal? That makes absolutely no sense at all. That’s like saying you can’t criticize a band’s guitar playing because “it’s all metal dude!”
on Jul 7th, 2013 at 22:54So the concept of owning cds, but now in the digital age and being a reviewer on this site I have access to a digital download, I listen to it, don’t like it and delete it? It’s 2013 in case you haven’t yet got the memo.
on Jul 8th, 2013 at 21:45The comments here are polarizing but the review itself is positive so that gets the deciding vote. Am compelled to check this out.
I was listening to “Come Death” while running to work a few years ago and got hit by a speeding Mercedes down a narrow street. I bounced off, got up and apologised to the driver and kept running.
The car had a wicked dent and scratch in the front wing by the headlight.
True story. And as such this band carries a bit of nostalgia for me.
on Jul 11th, 2013 at 06:25