Blood Red Throne are a death metal band from Norway. You probably already knew that. For those of you who dont know the story, let me recap it quickly for you: Dod and Tchort were touring with Satyricon (you might also know them from their earlier involvement in bands such as Emperor and Carpathian Forest), when they had a bit of a chat and found that aside from wearing make up, lurking about in frozen woods with leather trousers on and parping about with crap synthesisers, they shared a common like for old style, American brutal death metal. So it was that Blood Red Throne were born, from a desire to emulate their principally Floridian heroes and give us a back-to-basics lesson in
extremity.
For all of you hankering after some synth laden hymns to Welken and the like, you might as well fuck off, cause you arent going to find any. I got into BRT with their last album, Affiliated with the Suffering, and loved it, with its unashamed Deicide influence and its relentless, psychotic attack. Im happy to report that Altered Genesis is both pleasingly familiar in some respects, as well as a progression at the same time.
Following opening sound effects on Death to Birth, we get plunged neck deep in entrails straight away with the ferocious Incarnadine Mangler, and then manage to wade into Tortured Soul Appearance, which sums up some of what Ive already said. Benton-esque vocals bellow over those scything, treble heavy guitar tones, until we reach some spine jangling moments of almost clean guitars that sound like fragments of insight into shattered sanity. The pace changes from fast to (pleasingly) heavy mid-tempo passages throughout. There are some abrupt rhythms and riffs here, such as in the beginning moments of (frankly fucking ace) track, the awfully titled Eye-Licker, a jarring bone snapping rhythm that stands quite apart from any other brutal death metal Ive heard in quite a while, and all backed up by some wonderfully loose stringed twanging bass action. Its all in the rhythm kids theyve got a seemingly innate grasp to write pounding, sick tracks that stay with you in your head like a particularly disturbing memory.
Its that aura of experimentation that makes this such a great album, however. Im not talking about any great quantum leaps in terms of overall approach or sound, but rather in the spirit of the thing. Take little bits like the opening section of Arterial Lust, which begins with the simple track of having each guitar part take turns in coming out of first left, then right speakers. A simple trick, but one nether the less that causes the ears to prick up and a smile to spread across the face. Little influences here and there that rise to the fore in the song only momentarily, only to vanish again almost before you can hear them, such as the wonderfully Left Hand Path moments once more in Arterial Lust.
Drumming is as intense and blasting as you would expect from a brutal death metal release, but there are some great individual fills here and there to keep your interest from waning. The drum sound is both heavy and satisfying in the actual drum department, with nice clattery jangling cymbals sounding like a claw hammer on metal. The guitars have plenty of vigour and treble topped menace, with the odd deranged, fucked up solo adding to the atmosphere of deranged hate. Bass, as remarked, has a really nice old school loose and nasty sound to it, in stark contrast to the pretty boys of the melodic movement. The bizarrely monikered Mr Hustler provides some of the best Death Metal vocals in the business gruff, growly, but natural sounding and most importantly, almost constantly understandable.
Oh and two more things that make me disposed to like the album. The outro moments to title track Altered Genesis sounds like something that could have been left on the cutting room floor for Necrotism, and the promo pictures of the band apparently being hung are a nice touch for the old schoolers among us (for which read old fuckers) who remember those Obituary promo shots.
extremity.
For all of you hankering after some synth laden hymns to Welken and the like, you might as well fuck off, cause you arent going to find any. I got into BRT with their last album, Affiliated with the Suffering, and loved it, with its unashamed Deicide influence and its relentless, psychotic attack. Im happy to report that Altered Genesis is both pleasingly familiar in some respects, as well as a progression at the same time.
Following opening sound effects on Death to Birth, we get plunged neck deep in entrails straight away with the ferocious Incarnadine Mangler, and then manage to wade into Tortured Soul Appearance, which sums up some of what Ive already said. Benton-esque vocals bellow over those scything, treble heavy guitar tones, until we reach some spine jangling moments of almost clean guitars that sound like fragments of insight into shattered sanity. The pace changes from fast to (pleasingly) heavy mid-tempo passages throughout. There are some abrupt rhythms and riffs here, such as in the beginning moments of (frankly fucking ace) track, the awfully titled Eye-Licker, a jarring bone snapping rhythm that stands quite apart from any other brutal death metal Ive heard in quite a while, and all backed up by some wonderfully loose stringed twanging bass action. Its all in the rhythm kids theyve got a seemingly innate grasp to write pounding, sick tracks that stay with you in your head like a particularly disturbing memory.
Its that aura of experimentation that makes this such a great album, however. Im not talking about any great quantum leaps in terms of overall approach or sound, but rather in the spirit of the thing. Take little bits like the opening section of Arterial Lust, which begins with the simple track of having each guitar part take turns in coming out of first left, then right speakers. A simple trick, but one nether the less that causes the ears to prick up and a smile to spread across the face. Little influences here and there that rise to the fore in the song only momentarily, only to vanish again almost before you can hear them, such as the wonderfully Left Hand Path moments once more in Arterial Lust.
Drumming is as intense and blasting as you would expect from a brutal death metal release, but there are some great individual fills here and there to keep your interest from waning. The drum sound is both heavy and satisfying in the actual drum department, with nice clattery jangling cymbals sounding like a claw hammer on metal. The guitars have plenty of vigour and treble topped menace, with the odd deranged, fucked up solo adding to the atmosphere of deranged hate. Bass, as remarked, has a really nice old school loose and nasty sound to it, in stark contrast to the pretty boys of the melodic movement. The bizarrely monikered Mr Hustler provides some of the best Death Metal vocals in the business gruff, growly, but natural sounding and most importantly, almost constantly understandable.
Oh and two more things that make me disposed to like the album. The outro moments to title track Altered Genesis sounds like something that could have been left on the cutting room floor for Necrotism, and the promo pictures of the band apparently being hung are a nice touch for the old schoolers among us (for which read old fuckers) who remember those Obituary promo shots.
