CoC : Thorium - Ocean of Blasphemy : Review

Thorium - _Ocean of Blasphemy_
(Diehard, 2000)
by: Paul Schwarz (8 out of 10)

Thorium's musical approach, expressed as a metaphor for a method of murder, is undoubtedly the executioner's axe. Simple, violent, to the point and unpretentious: _Ocean of Blasphemy_ is all these things and little more. It gets the job done, for the most part, with a minimum of fuss. This Michael H. Anderson (Withering Surface) spearheaded band (for they do not regard it as a "project") takes a big bite from Deicide's musical pie while noting and applying the melodically defined hammer of traditional Swedish death metal. Megatons of double bass, in-your-face-and-brutal vocals and guitars that thrash and pound in equal measure lead the assault from your stereo to your ear drum with devastating precision. Apart from "Dawn of Flames", which is a bit less one-dimensional, Thorium deliver an atom bomb of death metal mayhem straight to your face. Recorded, bizarrely enough, at former black metal stable Grieghallen, and then mixed by the rather more death metal credible Jacob Hansen (Illdisposed), production, somewhat surprisingly, provides no respire from _Ocean of Blasphemy_'s unrelenting impact. With their basic assault on the senses, it is quite fair to say that Thorium aren't doing anything for death metal's progression, but they're more than adequately continuing its legacy of brutality, and with distinctly more style and worthiness than the procrastinating likes of Mortician.

(article published 5/3/2000)

ALBUMS
16/3/2003	A Lineker	5.5	Thorium - Unleashing the Demons