DETHRONED is a German black metal band who formed in 1995. “A Bridge To Eternal Darkness” is their second full length album. They have also released seven demos, a live album, two compilations, one split, and an EP. “A Bridge To Eternal Darkness,” is a straight forward, no frills black metal album. No fancy keys, epic passages, or any desire to reinvent the wheel. They play it fast, loud, and evil. Some might find that a turn off but there are plenty out there who will not; they don’t want or need anything else with their black metal. The genre has grown so much over the years to become what is the most diverse genre. With that being said, it is refreshing, to a point, to see a release that doesn’t try to be anymore than it really is. However, that means it can be boring to a point. As such, this album just comes off as average.

“Come To Me” opens with a lot of noise and chaos before settling in with blackened riffs. As evident by this song, the album is very much a riff based journey with the guitar providing most of the direction for the songs. The rhythm section is strong but doesn’t really stand out in any certain way. In essence, the guitar stands out but everything else is just serviceable. Much could be said of the vocals. They certainly aren’t terrible but they aren’t more than solid. This song also describes something else about the album: it checks off all the boxes of a black metal album. As I said above, that isn’t a bad thing but it also isn’t very exciting.

“Disciple of the Elders,” has some of the best atmosphere on the album, mostly due to the song not always going a million miles an hour and the riffs being more abstract in some places. There isn’t anything wrong with the song per say but the last minute and a half turns the song into nothing more than ambient keys/noise that is longer than it needs to be. This part of the song would, at least to me, sound better at the beginning rather than its final placement. If you like the first couple songs, then you’ll find the whole album to be solid but it just didn’t stick with me for very long. The later half of the album has a bright spot in “Ruf der Tiefe” with it’s crunchy riffs, aggressive tempo and lower blackened growls. The next track, “Descent” kills the pacing with a pointless interlude that doesn't really go anywhere other than to introduce the final song.

All in all, “A Bridge To Eternal Darkness” certainly isn’t a terrible album but it also isn’t overly interesting or exciting. After a couple listens, there isn’t a real need to visit again.