Blood Red Throne - Altered Genesis
Since the emergence of death metal in the late 1980s and early '90's, there has been a surge of bands from all over the world helping to establish death metal as a highly recognisable form of alternative music. Scandinavia in particular seems to be producing a number of popular death metal bands, and Blood Red Throne appear to be no exception. The freezing Scandinavian weather seems to link well with the harshness and brutality of death metal, which may help to explain why so much of it is pouring out of this region.
Blood Red Throne were formed in 1998 by two ex Emperor members. After acquiring themselves a drummer and bass player, their debut album 'Monument of Death' finally saw the light of day in 2001. The limited edition version of this CD included a printed razorblade and poster, and each copy was hand numbered in the band's blood. Now that is what I call dedication to your fans! In 2002 a mini album, 'A Taste for Blood' containing earlier tracks and remixes was released, before the band embarked on playing a number of gigs, including touring and supporting with acts such as Dimmu Borgir.
After the release of their second full album 'Affiliated with the Suffering', the band decided to change labels, and joined Earache Records in December 2003. This album was highly acclaimed by death metal lovers. Plans for a follow up album were immediately put into place, and now we have the release of their latest offering 'Altered Genesis'.
So, as we take a look at their latest album, we must first check if it fits the death metal criteria. We have the trademark "scary cover", of a decaying corpse (or someone that hasn't eaten for a very long time). However, this is a change from Blood Red Throne's previous album covers, which usually feature blood instead. All band members have long overgrown hair and are from Norway, so they fit the criteria perfectly too.
As for the music, well it is pretty much everything you would expect from a band of this calibre and more. Deeply dark and disturbing, complete with the sound of children crying, 'Altered Genesis' is full of speed and intensity, a trip into the violent, dark and macabre side of human nature. The stand out track for me was Arterial Lust, but tracks such as Death of Birth and State of Darkness also caught my attention. I really feel that this is an album that every death metal fan should have in their collection, for they are sure to love it. To sum up Altered Genesis in one sentence, it is a collection of sick, twisted and distorted metal which sounds like it was conjured up straight from the mouth of hell itself.
Altered Genesis is available now through Earache Records.