Still going eighteen years strong, Norway's BLOOD RED THRONE releases another sonic evisceration with "Union of Flesh and Machine". It has been three years since we have heard from BLOOD RED THRONE, who are usually pretty consistent with the times their albums have been released. But I believe the band's founder Død and the rest of BLOOD RED THRONE have taken that little bit of extra time to construct this face-ripping Death Metal machine of a record.

I could be wrong about this but if we count "Union of Flesh and Machine" out, BLOOD RED THRONE was not exactly held in high regard. BLOOD RED THRONE's past couple of releases met a lot of critical disappointment among fans and critics alike. Albums like "Brutalitarian Regime" and their self-titled record couldn't live up to the quality of one of their more heralded albums "Altered Genesis". I think that "Union of Flesh and Machine" is a fantastic album that should make any naysayers shut right up.

Every aspect to a satisfying Brutal Death Metal album is all there: the slamming groves, the mechanical tones of the guitars and kick drums, the vocals that are just dripping with pure gore. This album calls back to a period of time where European Death Metal was in his peak form. There are very distinct influences from bands like BLOODBATH and DEVOURMENT on here but BLOOD RED THRONE have been around for long enough to really be held in the same regards as these other acts.

I really love how this album chooses not to bog its audience down with technicality and decides to push the music down a much simpler path. Grooves in Death Metal are extremely effective as far as getting an audience intimately involved with the music. The vocal rhythm patterns are probably the most technical thing about the songs on this record. Like on a song like "Primal Recoil", the vocalist Yngve Christiansen clearly took great care to pick and choose when to unleash his unholy gurgles. Its control like that that gives this album a razor-sharp edge over nearly every other Death Metal release I have heard so far in 2016.

There are plenty of note-worthy tracks on this album. "Proselyte Virus" is a great, infectious track that grabs you from the very first second. There is also a new and improved rerecording of "Mary Whispers of Death", one of the band's songs from their very first release from back in 1998. And the band earns some major scene points for covering JUDAS PREIST's "Leather  Rebel". The already-heavy track sounds just that much more brutal when its handled by BLOOD RED THRONE. And how could I not mention "Patriotic Homicide", a song that uses a sample from the PC game Hatred so fittingly, you would swear it was a vocal clip recorded solely for this record.

I have felt totally burned out on the genre of extreme Metal as of late. But sometimes, a band makes the realization that the formula for an awesome-sounding Death Metal record is not as complicated as it may seem. Why try to fix something that sure isn't broke and doesn't sound completely outdated but also true to the old school at the same time. Why shouldn't I give "Union Of Flesh And Machine" and overwhelmingly positive recommendation based on those principals?