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A short and sweet entry into the rotten annals from semi-veterans Throneum, a band that mix plenty of mud-drenched riffs into something that sounds like a small riot is going off in your head. Taking the black menace of early Darkthrone and shoving it against the grime-encrusted filth of Hellhammer, Sodom, and Obituary, the band's fifth album Deathcult Conspiracy plods along with big, Neanderthal footsteps, crushing everything in its path. This is a dirty album, no question about that, but one that will find wide appeal, considering all the genres it tries. As my first encounter with this sullied three piece, I can't gauge this against their previous work, but I'm betting it sounds no different, as this is a comfortable band doing what they do best, thrashing it up with plenty of blood-splattered riffing, croaked, almost clean vocals (but they ain't clean, boys, nosirree), and mad, frenetic drum work that sears the skin.

At just over thirty minutes, this is done in a heartbeat, but Throneum leave you whipped by their madness, and though a lot of this isn't Black Metal in the traditional sense (just a sopping, bastard-penned mess, really), it still carries that style over into something most metallers will find worthy of interest. The riffs are punishing, the vocal lines filthy ("Bloody Sacrifice For The Morning Star", anyone?) and even the production sounds like something Lemmy would hear in his nightmares. So, if the sound of Satan and a few of his followers enjoying a drunken brawl tickles your fancy, head on over to Throneum's place. I'm sure there'll be room for one more.