Hailing from the US comes one man black metal project known as Bloodlet Throne. This is their second full length record, consisting of raw, harsh black metal with hypnotic riffs, and grizzly vocals. Its simplistic and compact with plenty of repetitive riffs and a constant steady drumming that can be rather toe-tapping at times.
Going through the promising intro of a lone guitar and bass with an ambient melody greeting you into the rest of the album, personally, I feel like the following track is rather jarring. As mentioned before, the guitar riffs are rather consistent and repetitive with very little variation but there’s enough melodic creativity to keep it rather different, giving it an almost second-wave black metal feel. The vocals are also a charming touch and are well performed but I feel like it drowns out the instrumentals and can be a little overwhelming. The drums on the other hand are just so overpowering and off-putting especially on the fifth track Battles where the drums go off on this noisy repetition, that truly takes away from the rest of the track. Personally, if the guitars had more breathing room and had a more prominent sound, I wouldn’t be so put off by it all.
Malacath really takes a lot of influence from other DSBM bands like Drowning the Light and Xasthur, and its very evident with the approach in the song writing and production. While for example, Xasthur carries much of the same qualities as Bloodlet Throne, like repeating riffs, raw production and dismal vocals, song-writing on the other hand, Xasthur takes the massive wall of sound approach that drags the listener into the dark depression that Malefic was trying to express. Malacath on the other hand, goes for a more melodic almost rock approach that I feel like doesn’t translate well into the somber and melancholic atmosphere they were trying to build.
While there are a few redeeming qualities I’m sure others can appreciate more, this album to me was a huge let down and I had a tough time trying to listen to it fully and trying to take it seriously. I do like the vocals, even though they are rather jarring, I would think if put into a different context and musical approach they can shine even more. Same goes fore the guitars. The riffs aren’t terrible, they’re rather catchy and I found my self humming along to some songs, but everything else surrounding it just kept drawing it back and made it feel amateur at best.
This one for sure goes out to those who are into obscure raw black metal and are always chasing for a new DSBM project to add to their collection.