Blood Red Throne – Nonagon

Written by on 25-01-2024 at 19:00.

Yes, the Norwegian uncrowned kings of dead metals once again ascend the blood-stained throne. Blood Red Throne has been active for 26 years, has ten records under its belt, and has managed to withstand the necessary personnel changes. The Norwegian death metal employment agency is now running at full speed again. Long-serving singer Yngve “Bolt” Christiansen left the band after spitting phlegm from the bottom of his lungs into the microphone since the self-titled album from 2013. Still a significant impact on the band’s sound, as Bolt’s deep pit grunts had now become a major trademark. Then you have to come from a good background. Fortunately, a more than worthy replacement was found in the form of Sindre Wathne Johnsen. We know him from his work with Deception (where vocalist Bolt sang along a bit) and from Celestial Scourge Scourge (where Gundersen also plays bass guitar). This way the incestuous circle is complete again and we can focus on the important things. Album number eleven is called Nonagon, which is named after a geometric figure with nine sides and nine angles. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this disc has nine angular pounding songs.

And what a party this Nonagon is. The breath of fresh air in the form of singer Johnsen seems to have given the band new impetus. We get nine very fresh compositions that express the essence of good modern death metal with a certain frivolity. With this, Blood Red Throne pays tribute to his own work, no, in fact, a tribute to the genre as a whole. Epitaph Inscribed starts hesitantly with ominous tones. A dirty grunt gives the starting signal for the chopping riffs to enter. The subtle melodic lines are the perfect accompaniment to allow vocalist Johnsen to showcase his full vocal range. It is the subtle things that reveal the musical ingenuity of Blood Red Throne. A playful bass guitar line in Ode To The Obscene just makes your ears perk up. Of course, the band also excels here in delivering pounding riffs and dirty brutality. However, the variation with strong melodic guitar work ensures this work is very tasteful. Seeking To Pierce also brings a succession of addictive guitar lines, which once again show that these gentlemen know how death metal should be presented.

Blood Red Throne effortlessly extends this to the rest of the album. Tempest Sculptor was quite rightly released into the world at an earlier stage as a foretaste. What violence and what an accumulation of finger-licking riffs. The rhythm section is the driving force and makes the blood flow a little faster through the veins with its pumping attacks. The solo that starts halfway through is the build-up to perhaps the best moment of this album. The guitars swell further and further, after which a short bass run gives the starting signal for a nomination for the tastiest riff part of the year (even though it has only just begun). The album seems to be completely battering, as Every Silent Plea offers a fresh change with furious passages and cutting tremolos. Gundersen’s prominent bass sound is once again a valuable addition. After the biting opening, the title track switches back a notch in brutality by leaning more on driving melodic guitar lines.

Dagnabbit, I intended not to write an A to Z review in which all the songs are dutifully finished in order. However, all nine pieces of work are so strong that this is not a punishment at all. This forms a nice bridge to Split Tongue Sermon where we possibly encounter the strongest song of this Nonagon. The strong guitar lines, the biting tremolos, and the slamming breakdown halfway through the song. Holy shit, what audacity! Blade Eulogy is actually in no way inferior to this, although the whole song is perhaps slightly less brutal. As is often the case, the closing Fleshrend is the longest song on the album with a running time of just under seven minutes. Usually, we are dealing with more drawn-out melodies and room for experiment. That is not the case here although Gundersen’s prominent bass work may have acquired a little more space. Here we get the same recipe but with an extra two minutes. In fact, a win-win situation.

The conclusion about this album was already given away in the second paragraph: this is a fantastic album for fans of (modern) death metal. Although it certainly looks back to the nineties and zeros, the tight production also ensures the whole thing can be described as contemporary. But things like that don’t matter if the music manages to impress in this overwhelming way. This Nonagon certainly does that. I would even dare to say that this is the best work Blood Red Throne has produced in his long existence.

Score:

90/100

Label:

Soulseller Records, 2024

Tracklisting:

  1. Epitaph Inscribed
  2. Ode To The Obscene
  3. Seeking To Pierce
  4. Tempest Sculptor
  5. Every Silent Plea
  6. Nonagon
  7. Split Tongue Sermon
  8. Blade Eulogy
  9. Fleshrend

Line-up:

  • Sindre Wathne Johnsen – Vocals
  • Død – Guitar
  • Ivan Gujić – Guitar
  • Stian Gundersen – Bass guitar
  • Freddy Bolsø – Drums

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