It has been a mere twenty-three months since the Norwegian Death Metal kings of brutality, Blood Red Throne, unleashed their eleventh album, Nonagon. Keen to keep a firm hold on their crown, they are back with another studio offering Siltskin, and it is a brutally catchy and worthy successor to Nonagon, as well as their other ten blistering offerings.
Blood Red Throne – Siltskin
Release Date: 5 December 2025
Words: Jools Green
Everything I loved about Nonagon is here, but in more abundance. It is great to see a band still pushing their capabilities after twenty-six years and not settling for second best. Blood Red Throne are still at the top of their game.
The nine-track, forty-five-minute Siltskin begins with Scraping Out The Cartilage. As it opens, the part-punchy, part-haunting intro hints at what a crusher album this will pan out to be. The pace quickly ramps into a death onslaught as the opening vocal roar tears through. It is not just a crusher, it is a catchy pounding beast of a track, particularly in the chorus, where the lyrics are especially catchy and delivered with a growl that is both melodic and brutal.
Musically, it takes an increasingly frantic turn towards the close before opening out into a superb swathe of soaring leadwork. An absolute attention-grabbing opener.
Unleashing waves of hypnotic chugging riffs which are punctuated with sharp precision by the vocals delivered as a mix of growls and higher acerbic hisses, Beneath The Means, from the offset, is a juggernaut of a track that crushes everything in its wake. At the same time, there is a subtle melodic and slightly groovy edge which pulls you into the path of destruction, and once again, the piece is elevated by a burst of second-half lead work.
Continuing with an engagingly hypnotic undulating drive, Husk In The Grain also plummets into brutally uncharted depths. I love the wide variance of pace. It is excitingly unpredictable, and the midpoint searing thrashy leadwork tears through mercilessly. You also get a second burst of sharp but melodic leadwork. There is also a good mix of acerbic snarled vocals and deeper growls, which builds further on the dense texture of this piece.
Just the title Necrolysis conjures all manner of hideous flesh dissolution imagery in the mind. Add to that the waves of echoey riffs that open, followed by a building hypnotic repeat riffs which run alongside. These riffs become dominant and with the vocals delivered as a mix of acidic hisses and deep growls, all together adding to that hideous mental imagery. I do love the subtly technical elements, which are filtered further into the track.
Anodyne Rust is a full-throttle assault on your senses. Delivered at a fast tempo, there are enough high-speed spiralling riffs across this piece to send your mind into an utter frenzy. The acidic screams and rapid growls add to the density. Then, midway through the leadwork is sharp and piercing. In the latter part, without losing too much pace, there is a subtle, brutal, slightly slamming nod worked into the mix, turning the track into a pounding, marauding beast.
Vestigial Remnants is a sinister chugger that builds in volume. A vocal roar is punctuated with sharper, punchier elements, with the direction twisting and writhing, and the acidic high screeches and deep growls from Sindre once again powerfully carve through. I love the haunting, extended leadwork in the second half, which really elevates the track before dropping into slick, repeating direction shifting.
The mix of hypnotic slithering groove and tech-edged riffs makes Vermicular Heritage a compelling listen, with the growls delivered with a protracted fluidity, especially the opening roar. A compelling listen that builds on the technical aspect as it progresses, the riffs spiral and coil around the listener.
The lead work in the second half adds a sharp intensity to the sound. I also cannot overlook the closing bass lines, which build on the technical side of the piece and pull the sound together.
On These Bones builds and rises up at you as it opens. The sharp repeat riff packs a punch. The opening protracted growl is a ground shaker, whereas the growl towards the close is more engulfing and cavernous. I do like the mix of sharp and spiralling riffs, which add a dark undercurrent to the sound, and the lead work in the second half creates a haunting and ominous mood.
Final piece and album monster at almost seven minutes, Marrow Of The Earth, is a tantalising builder. Opening in an eerie reflective manner, it soon gathers to an ominous chugging pace, becoming a heavy crusher where even the growls engulf and smother you. Then at the two-and-a-half-minute mark, the pace ramps up, and the vocals turn higher and acidic.
From herein, it switches between this and the growls throughout, with bursts of haunting, eerie leadwork punctuating between the lyrics. Towards the close, the pace ebbs back, and a spoken element emerges briefly before building and resuming the previous trajectory to the close. A piece that is massively impactful from end to end.
Blood Red Throne release Siltskin on 5 December 2025 and will be available as a CD, limited edition vinyl in a choice of two colours and as a digital download via Soulseller Records.
If you loved the past Blood Red Throne albums, you will not be disappointed with this beast either.
