Blasphemy Awakes
Thorium
We can think of three Death Metal waves in Metal history: the first wave in the first half of the 80's, the second that stormed the world in the first years of the 90's, and the third that arose on the beginning of the 2000's. Since the 90's, Death Metal became known and admired enough to give birth to legions of new names. In the 90's, a good name was from THORIUM, a brutal onslaught on Old School ways. They were great, but they are back from the grave, storming again with "Blasphemy Awakes", their new album.
Mixing influences from Swedish and Floridian schools, their music sounds brutal and raw in the old ways, but with a whole personal outfit. Maybe their way to play can seem to those boring puritans of digital age "another band". Bit if you have patience, you'll understand that behind this Death Metal onslaught, there's a strong and aggressive personality pulsing. The monster is awaken, so be prepared for their assault! Recorded and mixed by JakobGundelin Copenhagen at Gain Factory, we can say that "Blasphemy Awakens" does not try to sound as they were in the 90s. It's a modern and powerful sonority with those old elements on it, so you can understand their work clearly, but it sounds raw and brutal as you can think (due the organic tunes they have chosen).
It's a monstrous album, so be prepared to have your ears ringing as an old telephone after the massacre. The jigsaw guitar riffs on "Penance", the excellent tempo changes of "Depravity" (where bass guitar and drums are really doing a very good work), the slow bitter parts of "Maniac"and "Slow Deep and Dead" (both with its excellent changes of voice tunes, from guttural to shrieked moments), the ear shredder called "Blasphemy Awakes" (the melodic lines created by the guitars are amazing), and the sharp rhythm of "Reign of Osman" can be named as their best moments on the album. But their version for DEMIGOD's "Dead Soul" is very good as well.
A band in such way is always good to have with us, so THORIUM must stay alive and as brutal and nasty as it is.
8 / 10
Excellent
Songwriting
Musicianship
Memorability
Production
"Blasphemy Awakes" Track-listing:
1. Metal Meltdown
2. Penance
3. Depravity
4. Maniac
5. Slow Deep and Dead
6. Trust No One
7. Blasphemy Awakes
8. Whispers from the Grave
9. Dead Soul (Demigod cover)
10. Reign of Osman
11. Tengil
12. Under the Black Skies
Thorium Lineup:
MHA - Vocals
Kræn Meier - Guitars
JP Storm - Guitars
KB Larsen - Bass
PerraKarlsson - Drums
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