For those who may not know, Blood Red Throne is a death metal band from Norway who have released 4 CDs since 2001. The band developed from a union of guitarists Tchort (Green Carnation and Carpathian Forest, among others) and Død (Scariot) along with bassist Erlend Casperson (Deeds of Flesh, Spawn of Possession). For their 2007 release, Come Death, the band welcomed new drummer Anders Haave and new vocalist Vald.

In truth, I actually stumbled upon this band by accident. Having already owned music by Bloodbath, Blood Freak, and Blood Simple (how’d that get in there?), I started looking for any band with ‘Blood’ in their name to satisfy my metal urge. Let me just say I’m glad I found these guys.

Come Death is a brutal death metal album played with some solid musicianship. This is an album that offers a healthy dose of variety without losing its intensity. The songs often contain multiple tempo changes, moving effortlessly from blastbeats to double-bass drum patterns to half-time pieces. The key here is effortlessly. This is not Opeth, where a change in tempo includes a requisite introduction of acoustic guitars, keyboards, and a fucking mandolin. Instead, songs like “Slaying the Lamb,” “Deranged Assassin,” and “No New Beginning” will pummel you relentlessly without losing any energy at all.

The vocals on Come Death are very well done. Vald takes over for the previous vocalist Mr. Hustler, who was on the band’s first 3 albums. Vald offers death metal gutturals, bloodcurdling shrieks, and some very well-placed doubling of vocal parts for effect. Bassist Erlend Casperson is a monster. Check out his playing on “Rebirth in Blood” as well as the title track. It’s not always in death metal that the production is crisp enough that you can hear the bass contribute to the songs, and he takes advantage of his opportunity.

Finally, guitarists Tchort and Død make it happen. Heavy, crushing riffs are the order here. The guys can alternate among the sections of each song without missing a beat. A song like “Taste of God” evolves naturally, culminating with a flurry of chaos at the end. The band even throws in a cover of an old Gorguts tune for good measure.

To sum it up, if you are able to listen to “Deranged Assassin” and “Guttural Screams” (my personal favorite) without snapping your neck, then you must be too busy looking for a cock to suck and you need to knock it off now.

Go find a copy of Come Death. Buy it, play it, feel it, then go fuck your wife. Or girlfriend. Or boyfriend. I don’t really care.

Review byPile Driver