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Norway's Blood Red Throne has been grinding listener's ears into sausage since their privately-printed demo in 2000. Their early material included "Monument of Death" (2001), "Taste for Blood" EP (2002), "A Taste for Butchery" Split with Severe Torture and "Affiliated with Suffering" in 2003, all released via Hammerheart Records.

Upon signing with Earache Records, 2005 became the group's breakout year with the release of "Altered Genesis." Recently, the group released the crowning achievement of their career, "Come Death," which was again released on Earache. "Come Death" has an old school death metal feel: pummeling bass and ripping guitars will leave listeners feeling like a corpse in Ed Gein's wood shed: gutted, decapitated and hung out to dry. Guitarist and songwriter, Dod spoke to Metal Mayhem via email about "Come Death" and other events concerning Blood Red Throne.

Blood Red Throne MM: What has the band been doing lately?
Blood Red Throne: Well, we just returned from Oslo and Screamfest and we probably did one our best shows ever. The audience was thrilled and it's good to be back with our death machinery!

MM: How do you feel about your new album "Come Death?"
BRT: We are very satisfied! The outcome was about how we wanted it and the feedback is just great!

MM: How does this album compare to your prior releases?
BRT: It’s a bit more melodic and groovy. The production is more organic and it's just a perfect mixture between brutality and groovy songs!

MM: Please tell our readers about the recording process for "Come Death."
BRT: Well, we always click track the songs and put on the shadow guitar. Then the drummer starts recording. After the drum parts, we recorded all the guitar parts and sent the files to Erlend who lives in Oslo. He recorded the bass at home actually and returned the files to us. Finally, the vocals were put on and we sent the whole recording to Sweden to be mixed and mastered!

MM: "Come Death" is a solid album throughout, but one of the standout tracks is "Slaying the Lamb." What are your feelings on this track?
BRT: Hmm, this was actually the first song I wrote for the album. I really don't know what differs this from the others, but it's a cool track which includes all parts; brutality, fast stuff, slow stuff, melodies, groove and solos.

Come Death MM: Another exceptionally strong song is "Guttural Screams."  What are your thoughts on that track?
BRT: That is actually one of Tchort's songs. He actually put it together in studio, so we really never heard it until the album was mixed, but I really like it and the outro riff is monumental!

MM: One of the reasons I really like this album is the bass work.  How did you utilize the bass on this album?  
BRT: Erlend is really skilled and I believe he's done some amazing things on every BRT album, but maybe he didn't follow the guitars that much this time. We pretty much allow him to play whatever he wants to and fortunately, the listeners have captured this now.

MM: Traditionally, Norway is known for its black metal scene.  More recently, with the inception of bands such as Mindgrinder, Zyklon, and you guys, Norway is becoming a major force in the global death metal scene.  Would you say your country has a strong death metal scene?
BRT: We have some death metal bands indeed, and allow me to add your list with The Allseeing I, Abomination, Brutal Massacre, Pica Fierce and many others. Norway has a strong death metal scene and we've just started our manifestation!

MM: Tchort is involved in many other projects besides Blood Red Throne such as Green Carnation and Carpathian Forest. Considering his busy schedule, how did he fit in time to record "Come Death?"
BRT: Tchort actually focuses 100% on BRT now, so time will tell what happens with his other bands. Anyway, Tchort only wrote two of the songs on Come Death, so he didn't have to spend too much time in studio since we always record all the guitar parts for our own respective songs ourselves.

Blood Red Throne MM: Does the band have any tours planned, in particular, U.K. tours?
BRT: We're supposed to do 13 gigs with Divine Heresy in December, six of them will be in the UK. Our biggest goal though is to play in the U.S. sometime in 2008 and recruit some more fans over there!

MM: Now that you’ve released "Come Death," what is next for the band?
BRT: Playing live of course, but picking the right gigs and aiming for a headliner tour in 2008. I've also started writing new material, but we're not rushing into the studio yet.

Darren Cowan