Customer Reviews

Killer

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'd love to give this 5 stars, but I must admit, as others have pointed out, this isn't the most groundbreaking, innovative album. You can hear direct influences from a myriad of bands. Getting that small criticism out of the way, let me say this: This album is frickin awesome! I honestly haven't been this excited about a death metal band for quite awhile. Make no mistake about these guys: their music is as demonic and brutal as their name suggests! Imagine the best parts of early Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse, Malevolent Creation, Deicide, Carcass, Death, old Gorguts, Obituary, and Autopsy and you have Blood Red Throne...truly a juggernaut of death.

The opener "Portrait of a Killer" grabs you by the neck at first listen and won't let go. Holy cow, just listening to it right now makes me want to destroy stuff! YEAH! The next standout track is "Dream Controlled Murder" with some twisted lyrics and ferocious drumming. "Ravenous War Machine" is another doozy that will have you hitting the repeat button over and over. Basically, "Monument Of Death" doesn`t let go of your concentration one second; they're are always popping up new and obscure riffs containing really melodic and at times very beastly solos. Did I mention earlier that I was only giving this 4 stars? Aw, what the hell was I thinking, this is a 5 star release!

...After listening to the disc for what seemed like hours on end I have come to the conclusion that Blood Red Throne's 'Monument of Death' is truthfully the greatest death metal album of all time. The pure emotion of this album matches its sheer brutality. I feel as though that - despite it being a hardcore death metal record - the melodies are obvious without being as melodic as bands like In Flames and Soilwork. Musically it is sonic perfection. The guitar work is - to put it loosely - insane. The riffing is completely amazing. Unlike most death metal records, 'Monument of Death' does not blast beat into the ground, it goes from slow to fast to moderate to fast-as-hell in a matter of minutes. Definitely musically innovative. Vocally it brings out the best of what the death metal genre is. The atmosphere that this record gives off mixes the mosh pit / pissed off attack and the weird Today Is The Day type vibe. You can feel the music in your bones. I cannot stress enough how well this is played.

On the entire album, there is not one bad track. The whole of the record is worth listening to over an over again. Opening with "Portraits of a Killer" shows definite knowledge. The song is a great introduction to the album. You think that it might be the only good song on it, you might get more than you bargained for. "Dream Controlled Murders" is another ferocious death metal track that would destroy Cannibal Corpse and Bewitched. Lyrically it is the strangest song on the entire album. My favorite song would have to be "Ravenous War Machine". Its riffing and entire song structure shows what death metal should be and how it should be played. Plus, how could you not love a lyric like "I am of killer's breed, spawned from demon seed"? Though I only mentioned three songs, every single one of them is absolutely astounding.

Blood Red Throne's `Monument of Death' is flawless on all levels. The songs are great, the production kills, and I personally think that the cover art is pretty cool because of how simple it is. I have to say that this album is downright brilliant and a definitive album of a genre. How a band could create such an amazing album so early in their career is beyond me, but I know death metal, and this is sonic fury in its purest form. When it comes to death metal, Blood Red Throne truly does it best.

This is an excellent death metal disk. It's not every song played
a million miles an hour without any breaks, they leave that to Dark Funeral. This band is very tight and the sound quality is excellent, unlike every Dark Throne disk. Dark Throne might be a good band but I can't seem to sit through the garage quality recordings they put out. Anyway back to Blood Red Throne, there is not a bad song on this disk they all have fast and mid tempo parts to them. Check out Portrait of a Killer and Ravenous War Machine for some highlights and oh yeah the guitar player is that
guy from one of the greatest black metal bands of all time... could that be Emperor? hmmm...

Norwegian Death Metalists do Florida Style Death Metal pretty much sums up this album. Definitely a buy, A+.

(3.5 stars if possible)

First, let me start off by saying that this release is EASILY a 4 or 4.5 star release at the minimum. The musicianship here is great, the drums blast nearly the entire time (although there is actually some drum variety), the vocals are in the gutter, and the riffing is well done.

But there's a reason for me giving it such a low rating, namely the fact that they sound almost identical to another band - Vomitory. Vomitory has been around for a good while. One of their first efforts, "Raped In Their Own Blood", was released on a metal indie label before Vomitory was picked up by Metal Blade. They've released a number of discs on Metal Blade, and they have a very unique sound, combining a number of thrash elements with traditional death metal to create an extremely heavy yet technical sound. Think of it as Sinister + Witchery + Machine Head (first album). Vomitory's best release to date, in my opinion, is "Revelation Nausea" which was released in March 2001, prior to the December 2001 release of "Monument of Death" by Blood Red Throne. If you honestly compare those two albums, Blood Red Throne sounds waaaaaaay too much like Vomitory. BUT.. since Vomitory is one of my favorite bands, this is certainly not a bad thing! If it wasn't for the fact that Vomitory pretty much already has Blood Red Throne's sound, I'd give "Monument of Death" 4.5 stars easily.

Aside from the similarities which are cause for so much criticism from me, there are some big differences, too. Whereas Vomitory relies on a lot of thrash influences in their riffing style and songwriting, Blood Red Throne uses a much heavier dose of "death 'n roll" style drumming and guitar playing reminiscent of Entombed. Also, Blood Red Throne's production isn't quite as thick as Vomitory's, so even though the sound is thinner it provides for a slightly rawer experience.

All in all, I highly agree with the rest of the reviews here that Blood Red Throne is indeed a fantastic band, my only problem is that they're virtually identical in sound (at least in my opinion) to Vomitory. If you like Vomitory then check out this band, they rock. And if you really like Blood Red Throne, be sure to check out Vomitory! I highly recommend this album.