Kev Rowland Back with their tenth studio album in 20 years are Norwegian death metal act Blood Red Throne. I do wonder how this material will come across at gigs as it has been a while since I heard a DM album quite this polished and produced, which has turned out to be both a strength and a weakness. That the songs are cleverly arranged and played is never in doubt, and the separation between all the instruments is wonderful, but to my ears it has actually taken away some of the power as it has changed the music into something quite different. I admit, being able to hear some of the finesse within the bass shows just how much musicianship is within the band, but overall, this feel just too clean, too nice.

I cannot for one minute imagine this is how the band will sound when they play this material at a concert where they are going to be far more brutal, way more in your face, but here it seems somewhat sanitised, even when played at loud volumes. I wonder if it has come together due to the way it was recorded, as each member recorded on their own due to Covid restrictions at the time, so this is a series of separate pieces brought together as opposed to a more organic approach. It is a nice release, but to my ears it is not what I expect from a DM outfit.

arcane-beautiful Death metal has become a farce over the past few years. With the deathcore genre, which showed slight potential taking over the extreme metal psyche, and alot of bands who are very similar coming out with generic songs, albums, looks and opinions.

But death metal is still alive in the face of the world, and to real meaningful death metal, we turn to Norway.

I saw this album in my HMV, and to be honest it's very rare when you find metal that's not generic deathcore and metalcore, so I bought this album just because it was their.

I didn't expect alot, all you really get with this release is some standard true death metal. Great riffs, misanthropic lyircal context and ehmmm vocals...

These vocals are quite generic and you hear them alot in modern death metal bands, but to be honest, it's a technique that works for the vocalist...so I won't complain too much.

This album is quite amazing at times, theirs the odd filler song and moment, but the album is listenable, enjoyable and shows hope for the current extreme metal world. This album doesn't break any landmarks, but it's good and I'll give them credit for 9 quite well crafted songs.

1. The Light, The Hate - Some cool riffs. Good start. 9/10

2. Harme - I prefer it when these guys have Norwegian lyircs, it flows really well and shows some individuality. Amazing riffs and cool arrangement. 10/10

3. Throne Of Damnation - The main riff is amazing. The bass solo is a bit stupid though. 8/10

4. Human Fraud - Great lyrics. Some nice doomy elements. 9/10

5. Demand - Great riffs. The middle black metal like section is amazing. 9/10

6. Your Cold Flesh - Pretty interesting arrangement. 8/10

7. Prove Yourself Dead - Pretty groovy. Great chorus. 9/10

8. Not Turgenjev, But Close - Pretty standard death metal. Nothing special. 7/10

9. 10 Steps Of Purgatory -Great lyrics and arrangement. The ending instrumental is amazing and shows real potential. 10/10

CONCLUSION: Want some good death metal...check out these guys.