Norway’s iconic death metal act Blood Red Throne are back with their 9th full-length album Fit to Kill. Born from three veteran members in the Norwegian black metal scene Død (Scariot, ex-Satyricon (live)), Freddy Bolsø (ex-Enslaved, ex-Scariot) and Tchort (Green Carnation, ex-Emperor, ex-Carpathian Forest) created what would become one of the biggest, if not the biggest, death metal acts from a country that known for their black metal. With Bolsø leaving the band in 2002 and Tchort 2010 Død kept the Blood Red Throne whole and still bloody until Bolsø made his return in 2015 who is an active member today still. With a new member joining last year on bass in Stian Gundersen I was exited to hear what that would mean to their sound following the great release Union of Flesh and Machine.

To start it off “Requiem Mass” blasts away with all its power. The song has gone warm on my playlists as the single had been out for some time, great start and if the album would be even close to the same level all the way through I knew I would love it. “Bloodity” opens up with a sweet guitar riff which later on brings the thundering drums and bass along with it. The song is one of the most varied ones I’ve heard within this genre and if it even with “Requiem Mass” being such a killer tune that’s been in my gym rotation for a while know I can’t deny that “Bloodity” is on another level and becomes my favorite song choice. Blood Red Throne keeps on giving as “Killing Machine pt.2” offers us another wicked intro that gets your blood flowing and head banging right from the bat. “WhoreZone” slows it down a bit, shows some doom/death elements initially which they perform with ease until they then speed it up to the classic death metal tempo ending with some awesome shredding. “Skyggemannen” then pops on, another song I’d heard plenty of time before as it was the first single they released from this album. A fine tune, their fastest one on the album, where using their native tongue works really well.

“InStructed InSanity” is one of the most groove ridden songs on Fit to Kill, with some wicked tempo-changes to go with it. I can easily see this being a live opener to get people going. The album never loses even a bit of momentum nearing its end (in this case the song is actually called “End”) as both “Movement of the Parasites” and “Deal it or Die” provides you with more sick riffing and headbang friendly material. The groove and bass heavy track “End” finishes the album on a high note and it’s impossible to not nod your head to this tune (as is the case with most of the album). Hell I even get some Nile vibes on the outro.

Sometimes you got to take a step back in order to get a few steps forward when climbing the Blood Red Throne. The more old-school back to the roots style they went for here was just right and even if it isn’t a complete homerun Fit to Kill proves to be another very strong Blood Red Throne offering, who are yet to release a bad album in my opinion. Also has to be noted the album cover from Giannis Nakos is a thing of beauty! If you like Blood Red Throne, or simply death metal, then this is an album to watch out for when it drops this Friday!

Written by J.B.

Artist: Blood Red Throne

Label: Mighty Music

For fans of: Cannibal Corpse and Vomitory

Release date: September 13th, 2019

Favorite song: Bloodity

Score: 4/5 Excellent