Review Summary: Straight death metal, nothing more, nothing less
Anders Haave-Drums
Erlend Caspersen-Bass
Død-Guitar
Vald-Vocals
Thcort-Guitar
So many members of extreme metal bands seem to have side projects, but whereas many of them play in similarly sounding bands, Tchort has shown a wide musical range playing in black metal bands, a progressive rock band and this, his death metal band. Tchort formed his progressive rock band Green Carnation in the early nineties, then went on to play in Emperor’s classic black metal album
In the Nightside Eclipse. Since then he’s split time between Green Carnation, black metal band Carpathian Forest and Blood Red Throne.
Vald, who replaced Blood Red Throne’s previous vocalist, may not have the vocal force of his predecessor but uses a more varied selection of pitches which prevents him from sounding too monotonous. Also a new addition to the band is drummer Anders Haave, and along with bassist Erlend Caspersen, they provide
Come Death with an excellent rhythm section with clearly audible bass that does more than just keep rhythm, it adds a lot to the music. Of course, Død and Tchort supply plenty of riffs and everything sounds crystal clear thanks to the top-notch production.
Upon first listen, it may be surprising that the album
Come Death was made by a Norwegian band, not only because Norway is better known for black metal but because this seems like a decidedly “american” style of death metal. Album opener ‘Slaying the Lamb’ sets the tempo for the album with its time changes and the switching of guttural vocals to higher pitched screams. The title track is another standout, a blazing guitar solo, riffs on top of riffs and the layered vocals to add a little extra to the track. Blood Red Throne also throws in ‘Disincarnated’, a cover of the Canadian death metal band Gorguts, a track which blends in perfectly with the rest of the album, you can’t even differentiate it from Blood Red Throne’s own material. The thing about
Come Death is that all the tracks seem to blur together and because of the tempo changes, it’s difficult to notice where one track ends and the other begins.
There is little variation on
Come Death as Blood Red Throne take the “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it” approach and they do little to deviate from their formula. There isn’t really anything “wrong” per se with the album, it simply doesn’t hold up to repeated listens. Blood Red Throne are good at what they do, and what they do is straight death metal, nothing more, nothing less.
Recommended tracks:
Slaying the Lamb
Come Death
Taste of God
