Blood Red Throne, as far as a name for a band goes, leaves little to the imagination. They are pure, brutal death metal. With
 a Suffocation style brutality and tinges of industrial influence, BRT produce a relentless, mind battering sound – with a 
galactic twist. The band formed in 1998, beginning with Død and Tchort of Emperor and then later recruiting Freddy Bolsø 
(drums) and Erlend Caspersen (guitarist). Since then, they have released 3 full lengths, which includes the latest release, 
Altered Genesis.

Consistent tight, inflexible drumming sound that bombards the listener with powerful beats. Cacophonic guitar tones, 
producing a warped, rapid fire battering style sound lead the onslaught that Altered Genesis is. To me, Blood Red Throne 
sound like Fear Factory on steroids, congruent with the unnatural ‘out of this world’ sound delivered.

Altered Genesis, continues trends of memorable riffage and a non-stop horror show for fans. However, like many death acts, 
they have thickened their sound with meatier notes a heavier bass line and the ever present down tuned tones. Overall, this 
produces a numbed sound, with instruments seemingly trying to out play each other. Thus, the memorable riffs a fewer and 
further between. Affiliated with the Suffering, their second release was superior to Altered Genesis in this respect, with 
more captivating and interesting passages, more audible notes, beats and a faster pace to the music.

Vocals on this album have also changes slightly. There is more of a belching, gargling sound to them, overall making vocals 
slightly more guttural. Although, it must be said, they are still very well performed, consistent, blitz-like and intense.

Another notable difference is that this album seems to rely more heavily upon breakdowns and drastic tempo changes, to 
create the rhythm in each song, or swirl the existing patterns around. On prior releases, the riffs seemed to achieve this 
with more ease, or a less conscious effort. For my liking, the latter is preferable. It tends to mean musicians have written 
the album with ease and thus, will capture interest (namely my own) more quickly. Obviously this is not a hard and fast rule,
but a good guide for most listening.

The Bad

The album starts off with a long intro, which doesn’t really go anywhere, quite pointless really. It is just a mixture of 
weird eerie noises for what effect; I have no idea. Although this is forgiven due to the fact that it isn’t the centrepiece 
to the album.

However a few tracks put me off really getting into this album, aside from the fact that it doesn’t seem to gel as well as 
the prior two, fantastic BRT releases. For example, the chorus to Eye-licker has a bumping rhythm that chugs along, whilst 
in verse, the rhythms flatten out into a ‘ready to attack’ poise that leaves listeners in a state of disequilibria, not 
knowing where to go or what to do. Overall the song reminds me of Messhugah, who I ‘dislike’ to say the least – a sludgy, 
plonking feel with irritating awkwardly placed twanging bass noises in the background.

The Good

State of Darkness is one of the standout tracks on this album, which fails to fully grab my attention. Touches of old, with 
a whirling opening riff, chaotic manifestation and an up-tempo feeling, this song is fantastic, raw and unrelenting 
aggression. Others to look out for include Tortured Soul Appearance and Deliberate Carnage.

Overall, there is too much of an emphasis on groove in this album. The music is forced to flow, noticeable in each and 
every song, even the good ones! However, it is a release that will appease those who are looking for nothing more than 
brutal, unadulterated evil and chaotic death metal. Grotesque and intense, Altered Genesis is strong in parts, weak in 
others, but a decent release overall, provided you aren’t too picky with your albums.