Altered Genesis

I heard about Blood Red Throne from a friend of mine when I was in high school. When I heard that Tchort was in a death metal band, I immediately became curious. I wondered what kind of death metal a black metal dominated country like Norway could possibly produce, so I went on their website and heard a 30 second clip of the song “Ripsaw Resentment,” and, though not dazzled, I was enthusiastic about hearing how they’d tie that into the rest of the song.

I got the album in the mail one day and hastily threw it into my stereo, only to find myself going totally apeshit in my room by myself just a few short moments later. From start to finish, this is an exercise in utter viciousness and ferocity, showcasing airtight instrumentals and vocals that will melt the skin off of your face, and cause your brain to leak out through your ears.

The songs themselves are very thoughtfully written, ranging from standard death metal blasting and chugging to completely schizophrenic chopping, yes, chopping, that is virtually unmatched. For example, 2:04 into “Eye-Licker,” there appears to be a standard (while not boring by any means) blast part, which then transitions into a savagely crushing riff. I’m not sure what else I can call a part like that, so I’m going to call it an “axe chop part.”

The entire album is laced with pulverizing surprises, which seem to improve as the album progresses. While I have certain favorite tracks, I can confidently say that not a single song on this album descends even remotely close to mediocrity. Like a movie, this album is better heard than explained, so I won’t go on too much more about the actual songs, but rather about the instrumentals within the album.

Being a drummer myself, the first thing I noticed was the blistering drumming – the sound of the snare drum is that of a piece of wood smacking you in the side of the head repeatedly, and the bass drum sounds like a machine gun, without reeking of obvious trigger use. This was enough to keep my ears stapled to my stereo until I heard the guitars.

After I finished listening to the album a few times, it became very evident to me that Tchort, the guitarist, was originally a bassist, hence his highly rhythmic and down tuned playing style. The guitar sound is very crunchy and morbid, and at times sounds like a circular saw ripping into someone’s head. The triplets used in this album are completely menacing, and are not to be fucked with.

Once I heard the bass lines, I knew there was no turning back. I had been paying some attention to how lucid the bass was in the album, but when I heard the utter terrifying evil of the bass introduction to the end of “Arterial Lust (3:40 into it),” I nearly shat my fucking pants. My friend and I sometimes talk about how the bassist plays like a guitarist, and the guitarist plays kind of like a bassist – this becomes explicit about 1:40 into “Ripsaw Resentment,” when the guitar part is solid and rhythmic, and the bass part sounds to me like some lightning fast finger-tapping.

Finally, the vocals – these are some disgusting death metal gurgles, let me tell you. Mr. Hustler delivers a furiously hostile slew of psychotic lyrical content, in a voice that, while not completely unintelligible, is a perfect addition to this death metal masterpiece. His low growl is reminiscent of that of Sven from Aborted.

Having said all that, I can only add that if you haven’t listened to this album, you should do yourself a huge favor and get a hold of it. Don’t listen to this album while in the vicinity of sharp or blunt objects while you’re around other people, because you might end up slaughtering them as soon as the first track begins. This is undoubtedly one of my favorite death metal albums of all time.