Artist: Blood Red Throne
Label: Earache Records
Release Date: 3/8/05
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Title: Altered Genesis Artist: Blood Red Throne Label: Earache Records Release Date: 3/8/05 |
Judgment Committee Reviews | Rating |
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Abyss's Review:
I was pleasantly surprised with this band's Affiliated With The Suffering, an album that showed that not only was Tchort a fan of American styled death metal, he was also damn good at playing it too. Fast forward a couple of years and we have Altered Genesis before us, a solid, but less engaging effort. This will do little to dissuade the die-hard metalhead that can't get enough of your average burp n' gurgle metal (which is the metal equivalent of slap n' tickle).
"One word review: Solid." If Blood Red Throne has a major flaw it's that they're too good at what they do. In their attempts to sound like a Tampa death metal band, they prevent themselves from carving out an identity of their own. There's very little European flavor to the music, and what little there is has been done before. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but when reviewing an album there's a big difference between a band I enjoy listening to and a band I think is doing something really special. Blood Red Throne is definitely in the first camp.
As solid as this album is, it does fall short when compared to Affiliated With The Suffering. Because while that album had some filler, this one has even more so. "Tortured Soul Appearance" and "Ripsaw Resentment" are some of the high points, but I gotta question who comes up with these titles (the worst of which is "Eye-Licker," which I would guess is about a gecko?). But despite all of the negatives, this album is a worthwhile purchase if you've got some money to burn. The guitars have a pretty sick sound, and every once in awhile the bass comes out of nowhere to blow you away with interesting and unexpected passages.
The end result is this is a cool album, but far from essential. Tchort continues to show that he can do it all, but this isn't his strongest work to date. But for fans of this modern day metal journeyman, it's probably worth it. One word review: Solid.
Death's Review:
Earache gets back to its blood-stained roots with a new platter of death/gore splatter from straight-ahead death metal mavens, Blood Red Throne. Fans of Incantation and Immolation should take note of the speedy, American-style brutality, and fans of Carcass and Impaled should also take note of the lyrical themes and overall aesthetic. Altered Genesis is well-produced and effectuates a nice headbanging groove at every turn. The vocal growl of "Mr. Hustler" is traditional, guttural and effective. Ex-Emperor axeman (and current member of Carpathian Forest and Green Carnation) Tchort delivers the riffs with surgical, thrash metal precision and veteran death metal brutality. Much like Bloodbath return to the roots of a certain style of death metal without sounding dated, so does Blood Red Throne re-enact long dormant crime scenes for the sake of implementing new horrors. All in all, this is well-played death metal performed with veteran confidence, professional production values and heightened musicianship that take this record above the norm and becomes something truly worth your time and money in 2005, especially for those of you who don't need complete originality but just love crushing metal for metal's sake. All in all, I liked this album a hell of a lot better than I thought I was going to. You probably will too.
"I liked this album a hell of a lot better than I thought I was going to."
Hel's Review:
I am always annoyed to realize that I no longer have a particular album. For whatever reason, though I can vividly recall listening to Affiliated with the Suffering I can’t find the disc anywhere. Fortunately, I’m becoming increasingly happy with Altered Genesis and that eases the sting of my loss somewhat.
"I know I’ll be returning to this one." Though the opening track irritates me - I don't like time-wasting mood-setters much, and that is all this noisesome track achieves - once “Death to Birth” begins, it’s on. The guitars are my favorite thing about the disc with highlights during “Ripsaw Resentment,” “Eye-Licker” and “Tortured Soul Appearance.” The production is excellent, as is the musicianship.
Alter Genesis is a delightful voyage into mayhem. This is an album that I will recommend highly, as I continue to find my enjoyment increase with each subsequent listen. Oh happy day – a stirring death metal gorefest to serve as the accompaniment to the ceaseless insanity that is my life. I know I’ll be returning to this one.
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