Blood Red Throne - Souls of Damnation

Blood Red Throne is a traditional death metal band from Norway. So this is a band for those of you that are looking for some PURE death metal bands. Although Norway’s black metal scene has always dominated their death metal community, Blood Red Throne is one of the few death metal bands that have successfully risen above that. I’m not super familiar with Blood Red Throne’s older material (although I will be very soon once I get it), I quickly became a huge fan of this album as well as their 2007 record. The band’s 2007 album, Come Death, actually isn’t that good when compared to Souls of Damnation (but it’s still a really strong album). So if you’re someone that wants a really good first impression from Blood Red Throne, this is the album that I would recommend.

Yes, I do love that PURE and TRUE death metal sound produced by bands like Morbid Angel, Autopsy, and Immolation; but I’ve always had a big soft spot for those death metal bands that give me stuff that’s so fucking catchy! For example, Dead to Rights by DevilDriver is something that I would consider very catchy (even though it’s not pure death metal), as well as Mouth of Empty Praise from Bloodbath’s Unblessing the Purity EP. Sort of that really thick and heavy beat that people like to headbang to, but is also perfectly appropriate for any other kind of “dance” that you would want to do. The first song off of Souls of Damnation is exactly what I would call a “catchy” song with that kind of beat…except it’s a lot faster than most of the other examples I can think of. That’s what really got me hooked on these guys, when I heard that faster, ultra-catchy beat, I gave them the instant thumbs up for not only being able to pull that off, but also for just making music that I would call enjoyable!

Whenever I listen to this album, I’m always worried that I may have spoken too soon (which has happened in the past). But so far, almost three years later, I haven’t had to say that. The creativity and songwriting skills surpass the members’ above average instrumental abilities. The vocalist’s growls are crisp and deep, but still not something I would list as one of my favorites. His screams aren’t really that good, so that’s something that either needs to be worked on or just taken out altogether. His vocal patterns are generally simple, which is partly why it sounds really cool because he has the complex tempos of the rest of the band in the background.

There isn’t really anything that amazing about the drummer. But regardless of that, he still expresses his ability to play an infinite amount of different styles all throughout the album. And by that, I mean the drumming sounds (sometimes completely) different on each song, giving each of the tracks their uniqueness. Of course, the one thing that all musicians need to have is their recognizable trademark style or sound; and what the Blood Red Throne drummer does on pretty much every song is almost constant fast double kicking. And he’s lucky because he’s one of the better drummers at double kicking for a long time and NEVER falling out of tempo. His blast beats sound the same every time he uses them, so that’s something that tends to bother me because it only fits in certain places. The bassist is probably the most skilled musician in the band. This is also thrown at you about two and a half minutes into the first track with that short solo to keep things at a driving pace.

Blood Red Throne is one of the better traditional death metal bands out there, especially with this album. Don’t expect anything SUPER inventive or new except for a really fast CATCHTY sound in most of the songs. The overall sound production on this album is flawless, so you don’t have to worry about not hearing something or having too much treble. I would give this album 16/20.