Warthrone was born in October 2004, as ex-Witch-Hunt members started the band after the disbanding of their old one. Warthrone is a different entity, even though black metal is an important part of the band's sound. North American death metal and dark metal are other indispensable elements of what Warthrone is made of.

Violent vortex of 'Bloodfrozen Effigy' presents a perfect opener: massively infectious death metal assault in vein of Kataklysm transform into dark metal somewhere close to Diabolical Masquerade and the likes. 'The Unseen Presence' continues with similar ingredients; shredding riffing, fast double kick drumming and haunting keyboards, but it also includes some very Dimmu Borgir-esque synth work from the Norwegians' 'Enthrone Darkness Triumphant' era (1997). The remaining three songs are made of same elements, but none of them touches the mightiness of the opener, even though 'Quiver' comes close. 'Where Dark Bleeds' is a synth song. Anyways, styles from which Warthrone's metal is made of could easily mean that they were short on uniqueness, but that is not the case.

Performance of the band is energetic and at times, very agressive. Vocals vary between growls, shout and such, and while offering nothing new, they are well done. Shredding guitar work is my favourite aspect of Warthrone sound. However, drums are on the front, and as they sound trickered, it lowers the general mood quite a lot. Synth vary from, as mentioned, Dimmu Borgir-esque tinkling to sweeping ones and to more out of the common effects. This was recorded by the band themselves. In my opinion, it's not very well balanced. Cover artwork has also home-made feel to it, thanks to low resolution.

Warthrone are surprisingly fresh-sounding entity and have created a good debut musicwise. Better than later Dimmu Borgir records, but still not of quality of Diabolical Masquerade's eerie expeditions. After all, 'Ghoststorm Eulogy' is all about ghosts and other unexplainen phenomena, not about Satan.

Rating: 6 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
12/18/2005 17:37