Even though this is already the third BLOODTHORN album, it is the first time for me to encounter this Norwegian fivepiece. And judging the band by descriptions they used to get in the past for the two previously released full lengths “In The Shadow Of Your Black Wings” and “Onwards Into Battle” they quite obviously must’ve gone through a drastic change of style for this newest offering. And I bet it was for the better! You know, there always used to be talk of “… moody, atmospheric Black Metal” and even female vocals and such bullshit… Well, “Under The Reign Of Terror” is luckily nothing like that at all – it actually sounds a lot more like a rhino on a rampage to me. Incredibly powerful, very aggressive and brutal and way more rooted in the Death Metal genre than somewhere else. The guitar solos partly even remind me on vintage SLAYER with all the tremolo torture and stuff. But BLOODTHORN didn’t metamorphose completely as their Black Metal roots still shine through in the aggression that some of the vocals deliver and their well done cover of MAYHEM’s classic ‘Deathcrush’ (which even features Necrobutcher as a guest musician). So all in all this happened to be a very positive surprise for me and a band you should keep an eye on from now on. Further info from Red Stream, P.O. Box 342, Camp Hill, PA 17001-0342, USA, RedStream@aol.com, www.redstream.org