Great Effort & Great Change of Sound
Azrael | Lake Forest, CA USA | 09/24/2002
(4 out of 5 stars)
"In this effort by Bloodthorn, they updated their previous sound to conform with a more traditional death metal style, and yet managed to keep the war metal feel and lyrics alive. They stripped down their sound a bit, leaving behind the synth and female vox present in some of their earlier works which leads to a more brutal sound. When I first heard this new release I was astounded with how heavy the album was and how well it was produced. Previously, my favorite disc by them was 'Onward Into Battle', but that release still had much to be desired regarding production quality. 'Under The Reign of Terror', however, is a great piece of work with growling vocals, thundering drums, and a very dreary, apocalyptic atmosphere. Perhaps the greatest thing about this album is that many songs have very fast sections whereas in Bloodthorn's earlier works the typical song pace was much slower and plodding. This album is a triumph of war/viking metal and should be celebrated as such. Long live Bloodthorn!!"