(Melodic Death Metal) [CD] Throne of Chaos - Menace and Prayer (Japanese Edition) - 2000, FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Here’s one straight from the lost masterpiece file. This full length debut first turned up in 2000. The band then limped through two more releases (accompanied by a host of crippling image and performance problems) before calling it quits five years later. None of which has anything to do with the metal perfection achieved on this album though. This one’s a caged animal let loose from start to finish. We’re talking the taste of blood here people.
Musically this is an album of deafening speed and pounding power metal. All rounded off with what must surely rank as one of the all time finest vocal performances in metal by Taneli Kilijunen. The style is harsh death vocals, but without the monotonous clearing your throat element. Kilijunen is always melodic and brutally pierces the harshness with near black metal wails and shrieks. By the way, he also wrote every song (bar two lots of lyrics) and plays lead guitar. But back to him later. For the moment, just one other thing to add; THRONE OF CHAOS are often compared to the CHILDREN OF BODOM sound. Let’s just say that’s a bit like saying DRAGONFORCE or RHAPSODY OF FIRE are the best bands in their genre. Yeah right. COB have a sound, but if they’re the best death metal has going for it, then death metal needs help.
The lyrics are the first clue there’s something special going on. It’s all there; love, life, death – and not a predictable turn in sight. And just to dip into the COB comparison one last time, everyone knows the famous story of COB turning up in the studio without lyrics and making it up as they went along (never worked out who that was meant to impress to be honest). Well this THRONE OF CHAOS album has real lyrics and real songs. Track one ‘From Clarity to Insanity’ is no death metal jam session (sorry – had to take one last COB pot shot!). This one’s a wicked little tale of a haunted house that hits you like a head on collision. The guitars are a firing squad of hooks with a drummer dodging bullets. The keyboards do more than lace the music with harmony. Keyboards in this band means the keys do exactly what every else in the line up does – play metal.
‘The Scaffold Scenario’ is more than just a great song title. It also typifies just how smart Kilijunen is when it comes to putting a song together. The lyrics are as sharp and unorthodox as ever. And the music is chaotic at first sight, but damn calculated the next. This one’s about meeting your maker, but you’re not getting into heaven. So you get dark power chords and infernal drums. ‘Cold Bits of Fire’ is another dose of metal pyromania that scorches and drenches at the same time. And ‘Bloodstained Prophecy’ is a mini-symphony of apocalyptic proportions complete with crashing chords and blinding drum work.
The title track has an anthem-like chorus that turns up out of nowhere. The song’s about menace and so everything about it is menacing. The keyboards hover ferociously. The guitars shred like tearing off a bandage, and the drums are on the Richter scale until further notice. ‘Opus Void’ and ‘Divanity’ move from menace to nihilism without killing the mood. But this isn’t cut your wrists in the bathtub trash. This is I’ve got the whole thing worked out, so watch me start my own religion. More end-of-world guitar Armageddon. More end-of-time drum pandemonium. More keyboard fire and brimstone. And the vocals aren’t coming up for air anytime soon.
All of which brings us to ‘Synthetia’. This is as close to a love song as you get the album. But forget everything you’ve ever heard about a love song. For one thing it’s fast. Very fast. Secondly, it’s cunning and crafty in bringing together angels and demons and science fiction to create an epic of love and loss set to enough hooks for three songs. Make that four songs. And then make up your own mind if this isn’t the most underrated album in metal history.
It’s an easy album to find, but the bonus track edition isn’t. It’s normally twice the price too, but worth it. Try eBay. The end of the story is that Kilijunen damaged his voice recording this album (so session vocalists helped out on the next release). Album number three featured a new singer altogether, but less advisable was the “band decision” to share the songwriting duties. Frankly, the band never recovered. And Kilijunen appears to have disappeared off the face of the earth. Any updates on what he’s up to are gratefully appreciated by the way. But in the meantime stop reading this review and start listening to this album. It’ll make a difference.
Review written by Metal_Grail for www.metal-archives.com

Mr. Kiljunen - Guitars, Vocals
Mr. Harmaja - Guitars
Mr. Laitinen - Drums
Mr. Nora - Bass
Mr. Sjöblom - Keyboards