As a rule I don’t buy «cats in the bags», i.e. releases of bands which are totally unknown to me. But this time, I decided to make an exception. When I heard that Fono licensed another death metal album, I bought myself a brand new nicely smelling (by the way, have you noticed that Irond and Fono CD inlays smell different?) CD of Throneaeon, with whom I am totally unfamiliar.

Walking home, I was being gnawed by a certain apprehension: did I make the right choice? Two inverted crosses and a pentagram in the band logo weren’t especially pleasing to my sight. After all, everywhere you look these days you see these damn kid rattles, and I’m -really- tired of it. The cover was up (or should I say down?) to the standards set by the logo, i.e., it couldn’t be worse. A muddy smear depicting a man holding a knife up high on an equally muddy background didn’t even give me a chance to thoroughly laugh at this supposed «work of art». However I still maintained some hope that there might be a sweety wrapped in this turdburger, and as it turned out later, I was right.

Where are the ones who were screaming that the last two Deicide albums, namely «Insineratehymn» and «In Torment In Hell», suck? Are you one of those who strenuously roared and desperately wailed in a tone not unlike that of [Welcome to the "Interactive Review" program! Please fill in the name of the fitting vocalist who can strenuously roar and desperately wail. Thanks.] himself? Were you one of those who polluted the air with obscene sounds, arguing that Benton and Co. would have done better to retire after releasing «Serpents Of The Light»? Or are you one of the fans who hatefully bleated while trying to imagine what Deicide could’ve been like after «Serpents…»? You may all stop tormenting yourselves, because Throneaeon has arrived, and the music on «Neither Of Gods» is that alternative branch of Deicide evolution you always wanted to hear. The chemistry behind «Neither Of Gods» is quite simple: take a half-bottle of «Once Upon The Cross», add a half-bottle of «Serpents Of The Light», throw in a teaspoon of classic Floridian death metal with a pinch of Sinister, excessively fertilize with Viagra to make the album technical, powerful and self-assertive, and you get «Neither Of Gods»!

Yes, there is actually no need to speak of the music anymore — if you are familiar with middle-to-late-90s Deicide, imagine a mixture of «Once Upon The Cross» and «Serpents Of The Light» (which is really just more technical and accordingly more diverse in rhythm department) and you get Throneaeon. The vocals of Tony Freed sound like Glen Benton more than Benton himself on «In Torment In Hell», and the guitar riffs are typical of Deicide’s, with parts resembling a less melodic and much more brutal and straightforwadrly-dumbish version of Slayer. The thundering drums are done in the vein of «Once Upon The Cross» — all in all, everything is as it should be. Well, actually, if you listen to this CD more carefully, you’ll notice some differences. First, Throneaeon’s music is apparently more technical and diverse, which explains why it somewhat resembles «Aggressive Measures»-era Sinister. Second, the vocal parts often rhythmically differ from those of Glen Benton. Finally we examine the lyrics, which prove to be less extreme and aggressive than Deicide, though the song topics are the same. The sound of «Neither Of Gods» is simply wonderful — very «big» and powerful. The guitars’ mix is especially impressive; so much that it somewhat overshadows the rest! The drawback to this sound is it’s «affectation» — keeping in mind the «digital» album artwork, it’s not really surprising that sometimes you get the feeling of being in a death metal incubator. However, these small shortcomings are, as a rule, outweighed by all the merits, and that’s why the CD really turned out to be a sweety of sorts. In any case my money was not spent in vain.

«Neither Of Gods» certainly won’t be liked by those who seek originality in music. On the other hand, Deicide fans who disliked the last two albums will be simply enraptured by this debut Throneaeon album. The same feelings will be shared by those who like brutal death metal and solid, well-composed and well-played music which doesn’t suffer much from originality. I’d like to thank Hammerheart for issuing (and Fono for licensing) such stuff — something tells me that Throneaeon won’t change their ways and former Deicide fans will be have something more to be happy about.

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