Info
- Band(s): Thornspawn
- Label(s): Werewolf Records
- Release Format(s): CD
- Release Year: 2024
- Review Date: October 14, 2024
- Author(s): FelixS
When it comes to the North American Black Metal scene, the discussions usually evolve around the same bands, it’s always Judas Iscariot, Leviathan, Krieg, Nachtmystium, Xasthur and the likes. If you have a true connoisseur you might also end up talking about Profanatica, Demoncy, Black Funeral or even Burning Winds. One of the bands that is sorely missed in most of these discussions is Thornspawn, a band that is quite underappreciated and even ignored by many. Even while the band was already formed three decades ago and played a role in the development of the Black Metal genre in the North American continent. Some of this will have had to do with the choice of labels or the lack of a steady stream of full-length albums, but the somewhat volatile musical direction may not have helped in establishing a solid foundation either. However, those who manage to see through this will find a band with a determined strength and admirable perseverance that has given its full dedication to the Black Metal genre.
‘Coronation Of The Supreme Beast’ is only the band’s fifth full-length album and the first since 2008’s ‘Sanctified By Satan’s Blood’, but it is not only the time factor that makes this new album hard to compare with any of the band’s previous output. Almost all of the previously released albums have quite a different sound and so does ‘Coronation Of The Supreme Beast’, again we are presented with a new cloak in which Thornspawn is guising itself. Yet, the very core of the band has never changed, it I still all about aggression and hatred.
This latest feat is definitely the most “Black Metal” out of all the band’s previously released material. It not only has the sharpest and most piercing sound, but the it certainly also has the coldest atmosphere. Especially the first half of the album is really as eardrum tearing and skull-splitting as it gets, it even creeps up quite closely to those cold and almost militant sounding mid 00’s records of Mütiilation. So, the thundering and more bulldozing sound of ‘Wrath Of War’ (2002), commonly seen as the band’s ultimate pinnacle, has been banished to the past forever. Although, in ‘Slaughtered Death, Mutilated Remains (The Hexvore Approaches)’, it still makes a rather unexpected return. Perhaps not as ravaging as on ‘Wrath Of War’, but a touch of Bestial-driven violence rears its head here nonetheless.
The second half of the album has a bit more going on when it comes purely to dynamics anyway. Here, Blackthorn, entirely responsible for the entire instrumentation on this album, regularly takes the throttle back a bit, giving the music an ominous depth. With this resulting depth, the music takes on a vicious and sinister atmosphere that does extra justice to the musical setting of those somewhat slower songs, after all: the peaks are extra high when ascended from the depths.
While none of the presented material on ‘Coronation Of The Supreme Beast’ is really unique to the Thornspawn formula, it is clear that all those elements are now many times better developed and thus fall better into place. Anyone familiar with the band will recognise Thornspawn in this without question, but it is that deepened dynamic, mainly because of those slow-dragging sections, that makes the music more suspenseful. But moreover, it gives Thornspawn exactly what it needs: a recognisable signature of its own. Whichever way you look at it, ‘Coronation Of The Supreme Beast’ a beastly album more than worthy of the Thornspawn name. In fact, it is perfectly safe to say that this is the best album the band has produced in a very long time, and it holds true to all the values Thornspawn stands for.
Thornspawn
- Country: USA
- Style: Black Metal
- Links: Facebook, Instagram, Bandcamp
