THRONE

Pestilent Dawn REDEFINING DARKNESS

Next-level savagery from blackened death mutants

Superficially, this Michigan quartet’s sound straddles super-technical death and a more blackened strain of brutality. But some bands just push things further, and the sheer intensity of songs like In The Midst Of Chaos is a pitch-black wonder to behold. Steeped in the kamikaze virtuosity of Morbid Angel and Vital Remains, but played with machine-like precision,

And They Shall Weep and

Beyond Malice are ornate labyrinths of mutant violence, executed with psychotic commitment. The gothic horror aesthetic of much blackened death is entirely absent; even the monochrome artwork is genuinely alien and unsettling. Throne’s rabid, brakes-off mentality is obscenely exciting. ■■■■■■■■■■

FOR FANS OF: Hate Eternal, Belphegor, Anaal Nathrakh DOM LAWSON