Blood Red Throne, Souls of Damnation
Blood Red Throne is one of those bands whose albums you search out when you’re looking for nothing more than skull crushing death metal with an old school aesthetic. Souls of Damnation is the band’s fifth studio album and marks their 10th anniversary as a musical entity. Has the band done anything differently to help celebrate and commemorate the occasion?
While these Norwegians still bring the groove oriented death metal found in past releases, they’ve also managed to drag themselves from the current mass of metal of their homeland — incorporating a more American feel to their music. Throughout Souls of Damnation, the band will remind you sporadically of the likes of Suffocation and Cannibal Corpse. This is all well and good, but the band is sure not to ape the American sound, instead incorporating these influences into their own brand of straight forward death metal.
The Light, The Hate
Barbaric drumming and a catchy bit of riff work gets “The Light, The Hate” off to a great start as Blood Red Throne get down to business. Once the crew settle into a chugging groove one of the real highlights of the album starts to shine. The bass work throughout the disc is outstanding, filling thundering rhythms and twanging spotlights perfectly. There is a nice lead at 3:30 that breaks up the chugging pace nicely.
Harme
Another solid round of riffs and pummeling drums join the slick bass work as “Harme” gets going. I love the groove that the band hurls through the speakers once they settle in. So far the vocals are right on par with the last album, raw, guttural and aggressive with just the right amount of layering thrown in at the right spots. There are plenty of tempo shifts peppering this song that you’ll more than likely sprain your neck before getting to the next track.
Your Cold Flesh
“Your Cold Flesh” has a more frantic approach to the opening moments before the band settles into another pummeling groove. The layered screams on this one are a nice change that really add a great deal more aggression to the mix. There are a slew of off kilter time changes from beginning to end on this one. The bass work, especially before the two minute mark, is stellar (a little research reveals the bassist to be Erlend Caspersen of Spawn of Possession and Decrepit Birth fame). There’s another slick lead starting at 2:20 that lasts a good while.
Human Fraud
A quiet beginning to “Human Fraud” only sets you up for the building drums and squealing guitars that fade in over the first 45 seconds or so. This one has some of the more interesting and catchy riff work on the disc. The vocal patterning on this one fits the chugging pace nicely, especially at the slower pace that dominates the song.
Demand
“Demand” picks the pace back up with a little up-tempo groove/guitar combination. There’s a bit of Cannibal Corpse love in the opening few moments, as well, but it quickly succumbs to a thick groove and duel vocal attack. This is one hell of a catchy track and will have you head banging in no time. A huge series of screams unleashes pummeling drums and driving riffs at the 2:20 mark that’ll definitely wake you up if you’ve dozed off.
Throne Of Damnation
This next track has one of the more unique opening few moments found on the album. Rapid fire drums blasts mix smoothly with thick bass and big riffs. Ok, that’s it. I just twisted the fuck out of my neck slamming to the bass/guitar combo around the :40 mark. This is a pretty damned good track.
Prove Yourself Dead
“Prove Yourself Dead” starts off a bit slower with building guitars and staggered drum attack before the group settles into their familiar mid-tempo groove. More layered growls help separate this one from the rest of the album. While there isn’t much to this song, it is catchy as hell. There’s something to say for simplicity, well except for the killer lead around the 3:40 mark.
Not Turgenjev, But Close
Thick, twangy bass matches the pummeling drums in a duel to the death over the first 23 seconds before decent riffing and gruff vocals come in. The drum work throughout this song is all over the place, in a good way mind you. There’s a blast of frenetic activity just before the 2:30 mark that pulls you violently from the groove.
Ten Steps Of Purgatory
The final track certainly feels like you’re descending a winding staircase into oblivion as the groove pushing you along to a nice bit of riffing. You know you’re in for something sweet as the spotlight drum and distant shouts fill the speakers for a few seconds before the one minute mark. Slayer-like guitar squeals introduce a rifftastic groove that’ll leave you drooling for more. The latter half of the album is chock full of animalistic drum blasts and raw higher ranged screams. The bass work throughout this song is, as the kids say these days, off the chain. “Ten Steps of Purgatory” wraps up another solid slab of death metal from Blood Red Throne..
~ ~ ~
Favorite Tracks:
All of them
Additional Notes:
N/A