BLOOD RED THRONE – Siltskin

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7.0

• Bands:
  BLOOD RED THRONE
• Duration: 00:45:28
• Available from: 05/12/2025
• Label:

• Soulseller Records

Streaming not yet available

The Blood Red Throne strike again without too much warning, as if in the midst of an uninterrupted slaughter. “Siltskin”, released about a year and a half after the previous “Nonagon”, confirms the proverbial industriousness of the Norwegian group and, at the same time, its obstinacy in defending an idea of ​​granitic death metal, refractory to any form of superfluous evolution. Twelve albums in twenty-five years is not a small number, and the fact that Død and his companions still manage to churn out works of a certain compactness speaks to their dedication to a genre of which they have long been custodians rather than innovators. The trajectory is clear: a first part of his career full of excellent chapters, then a slow settling to a stable, honorable, if rarely overwhelming, level.

“Siltskin” continues along this line with an almost disarming balance: it is a good, solid album, which as a whole does not disappoint, but which on balance does not even shock from start to finish. The opening “Scraping out the Cartilage” tries to mix things up a little with an almost choral refrain and a lot of physicality, but the real flashes on the riffing front are few and in the end the result isn't very convincing. It is by scrolling through the tracklist that the Norwegians begin to take off: “Beneath the Means” is more biting and compelling, with the classic alternation of groovy breaks and furious surges, while, further down, “Vermicular Heritage” establishes itself as one of the most effective passages of the album: a heavy, linear groove that captures without too many artifices.

As per tradition, the group draws on their roots with rigor: sharp riffs that recall the first Gorguts, a rhythmic setting sometimes also indebted to mid-career Cannibal Corpse, plus some black metal shadows to darken everything. It is a formula that is still alive, although now familiar. Not surprisingly, many of the characteristics of Blood Red Throne's sound have become common ground for younger bands like Skeletal Remains, who are more or less moving on the same tracks today, but with a fresher creative drive and greater consistency in songwriting. Blood Red Throne, on the contrary, every now and then give the impression of being a little tired or losing themselves: a song like “Necrolysis” is emblematic in this sense, which attempts to “deathmetallize” certain inflections of the Pantera school without finding the right key. The second half of the album is however more inspired and compact: “On These Bones” flows with a sense of urgency and participation, managing to summarize all the souls of the band – brutality, groove, melodic tension – while the final “Marrow of the Earth” closes on a darker and more dramatic note.

Overall, “Siltskin” confirms what those who have followed the band for a long time already know: Blood Red Throne still know how to build solid and coherent records on average, even if they hardly surprise or manage to maintain a notable level throughout the tracklist. The group's career has already shown its highest peaks and, listening to an album like “Altered Genesis” today, you can perceive the extra edge of those songs from the first period; after all, at the time there was also Tchort (Green Carnation, ex Emperor, Carpathian Forest) on guitar and, consequently, the range of solutions and talent within the band were wider. If it came out today, that album would still be revered and among the best of the year. Having said that, there is still no doubt that Blood Red Throne are a group that still moves with dignity. For those who have followed them since the beginning, listening becomes above all the curiosity to see where these tireless Norwegians want to go: and the answer is clear, even without fanfare, in the notes of death metal played with experience and dedication.