Bloodthorn – Under the Reign of Terror

There are bands which always play the same kind of music on every album. Other bands try to explore new worlds in order to have more commercial succes. And a small group of bands are doing the opposite.

I remember that I once borrowed the first cd of Bloodthorn from a friend of mine, the music on that album was atmospheric Black Metal with traces of doom metal. After their second full length album and a split-cd with …And Oceans, Bloodthorn introduces ‘Under the Reign of Terror’.

Maybe Bloodthorn knew what would happen in America a few months later after these recordings, or maybe they inspired Bin Laden with this album. However, the music on this album isn’t what I expected. Musically it’s a completely different band compared to the style as I knew them, and in a negative way. All songs are very brutal and heavy, but I wonder who is waiting for such an album.

From the beginning of the album till the end we get guitar-driven Black Metal. If they had released this album a few years ago they may have surprised me but nowadays it’s very common to play this kind of music. Sometimes they remind me to some Swedish colleagues like At the Gates, Dissection and on other moments I hear some hints of Aeternus. Totally un-original are the warsounds, but they fit in the total picture well. On the last track Bloodthorn covers Mayhem’s ‘Deathcrush’ which is nice, but it would have been more exciting when they had totally raped the song instead of immitating the original.

For the old fans I recommend to listen before you buy.