Album Review: Blood Red Throne – Union of Flesh and Machine (Candlelight Records)

The opening song Revocation of Humankind makes sure you know what kind of music Blood Red Throne play from the moment it starts. This is a death metal album but with elements of groove that make it more enjoyable. A so-so start, it’s about halfway through that it picks up smashing out a head-bangingly heavy beat. Some intense guitar work in the latter half helps raise it above being a generic death metal track.

Most of the songs on the album begin in a similar fashion, blasting metal out quickly & with a lot of heaviness. Vocally it’s an intense listen but it’s that deep & throaty kind with occasional high pitched moments playing off the other, it’s near impossible to understand a word that is being sung but it’s not something those who enjoy death metal really worry about & here it fits the music well.

The start to Patriotic Hatred is very silly as we hear a speech from a man talking about his hatred of everything & how he wants to kill to everyone & die violently. It’s even more silly if you know that it’s taken from a controversial game that was released last year called…Hatred. The song itself has a bit more happening with some interesting guitar notes & changes that mark it out as a more groove based track.

It’s easy to draw comparisons to the likes of Cannibal Corpse with its violent titles & lyrical content (Homicidal Ecstasy, Exposed Mutation) as well as its unrelenting heaviness. Around the halfway mark it does all begin to blend into one.

Union of Flesh and Machine comes along at the right time, as things were beginning to really bore it drops some nice groove-based riffs that enhance a fairly bland sounding track.

It’s a brief offering though as Legacy of Greed’s fast-paced, higher vocal style starts to frustrate. If you want bone crushingly heavy tracks with solid drum beats and the occasional guitar flourish then this is your baby. It’s just not doing anything unique especially to long-time death metal fans.

The penultimate track, Leather Rebel is a guitar driven, aggressively fast short track that could be accused of assault. It doesn’t let up for even a second & is one of the more enjoyable songs on the album. The album ends with a flurry of drums with Mary Whispers of Death (awesome title) finishing the album in the same fashion as it begun: heavy, uncompromising & brutal.

There is a lack of imagination here but that’s not to say it’s a bad album, far from it. It’s a good death metal album, exactly what you would expect from the genre. It has few standout moments but is certainly worth a look if you’re a fan of death metal.

Overall Track List:

1. Revocation of Humankind
2. Proselyte Virus
3. Patriotic Hatred
4. Homicidal Ecstacy
5. Martyrized
6. Union of Flesh and Machine
7. Legacy of Greed
8. Exposed Mutation
9. Primal Recoil
10. Leather Rebel
11. Mary Whispers of Death