English
Blood Red Throne, the Norwegian death metal juggernauts, return with their latest album Siltskin, a crushing embodiment of their evolving yet timeless brutality. Known for relentless riffs and powerful grooves, the band blends sophisticated melodies with sheer aggression, pushing death metal to new heights. In the following interview, we dive deep into the creative forces, lyrical themes, and production insights behind Siltskin, exploring how Blood Red Throne continues to refine their signature sound after nearly three decades. Get ready for an intense journey into the heart of death metal’s raw power and atmospheric layers through the words of the band themselves.
Hello and welcome to Metal Invader! How does “Siltskin” represent the current phase of Blood Red Throne compared to your previous releases?
Allrighty, cheers to all our greek fans. One of the few European countries we haven’t played in yet. Please invite us! BRT is like wine. We keep getting better the older we get. The riffs keep comin’ and songs are heavier and more groovy. The leads are also just fuckin’ stellar and our producer gave it an even more powerful production this time. This is how we like our death metal in Blood Red Throne and the train won’t stop!
What were the main inspirations behind the themes and sound of “Siltskin”?
Personally, I just wanna push myself to make the ultimate death metal song. You know you have something serious going on when that bad ass face pops out. It’s not always about the speed and technique. The great riffs are essential. The flow. The breakdowns. The whole song from start to finish. It will never end!
How did the writing and recording process for “Siltskin” differ from your earlier albums?
Only drum recording were different. We flew in our drummer and producer and gathered the whole band in a local studio to track the drums and let the band be involved and give direct input to Freddy. The rest was done as usual. Guitars in my home studio and vocals and bass in respective home studios. This is how we work. We live in 3 different cities and we don’t rehearse for live shows or album recordings. The most important is the final product and then hit the road to kick ass!
Did you experiment with new musical styles or techniques on “Siltskin” that fans might find surprising?
BRT will always deliver straight forward, but top notch death metal. However, we did include a clean guitar part and also some clean vocals for the last song of the album. It’s not like we limit ourselves. If Meathook or I have a cool riff that’s not a typical death metal riff…we just deathify it and voila it’s incorporated in a song. All over I think my riffs are getting heavier and I just love it when it’s powerful and chuggy with them double kick drums on top. Hell yeah!
Can you tell us about the lyrical concepts on the album? Are there recurring motifs or stories you explored?
The lyrical theme delves into different types of erosion. Be it personally, mentally or physically. In general it deals with decay of the mind and it rotting away. Siltskin is a brutal imagery of not recognizing oneself and that your mental wellbeing easily can be scrubbed away.
How do you balance brutality and atmosphere in your songwriting on this record?
I’ve always been a sucker of melodies. In death metal, I want sophisticated leads. Something that breaks up the song in a nice and smooth way. Siltskin has the best lead work since ever and I feel like there’s personal signature to it. It complements the BRT sound…which is quite unique in my opinion. Then there has to be some aggressive and brutal stuff.
Where was “Siltskin” recorded, and how did the studio environment influence the album’s sound?
Siltskin was recorded in 4 different studios. Which is pretty normal for us on all albums the last 14-15 years. We re-amp both guitars and bass and our producer Ronnie has a huge impact on the sound. He’s like our 6th member and also does our live sound. Freddy was also very comfortable in studio and the tracking went real smooth. The rest we did in our respective home studios and it’s always nice to record whenever we feel like.
Can you share some details about working with the producer and the production choices that shaped the album?
Ronnie has become a very good friend and also important part of the band. It was really nice having him in the studio when tracking drums. He knows his game and I use him for almost anything I record. I know he tested many different amps when re-amping the guitars and we had 3 final mixes to choose between. It’s always great to have something to compare to and this production is a big step into the direction we wanna go.
Have there been any lineup changes or new roles within the band influencing “Siltskin”?
Apart from Sindre being somewhat new in the band, the line-up has been steady. I’m still here as the band leader and main song writer for 28 years. Meathook has been around for 15 years and Freddy’s also been back since 2013. He’s the original drummer. Stian is close to 7 years in the band. They all have their signature in their playing and for the vocals I have to say personally that Sindre was the thing missing to complete the perfect sound of BRT.
How does the chemistry among band members affect your creative process nowadays?
I don’t wanna sound superficial, but I write my music regardless of band constellations or periods of genres in the scene. I hardly play the guitar, but when I do I always keep jammin’ out ideas. Sure, we have a great chemistry in the band and we feel like a whole unity for the first time in a long time. Everybody works hard and that inspires and drives me to push the band to new heights.
The artwork for “Siltskin” is striking; what was the concept behind it and how does it connect to the music?
We love the style of Giannis Nakos and working with him is very satisfying. It’s like he almost immediately has an idea that fits when he gets the album title. It’s in the same style as Nonagon and we can’t wait to print merchandise with this amazing design. It’s a bit futuristic, but dark and old-school at the same time.
What do you expect or hope listeners will take away from “Siltskin”?
In my head I always think that any fan of death metal should like at least something about BRT, hehe. There are so many elements and Siltskin sums up that pretty well. I sure hope they will see the quality in the band and that we are evolving on each album. Some of these songs will be so powerful live. Next level!
Are you planning any special tours, videos, or other promotions to support the album?
Naturally. There’s a big European tour comin’ up. We’re doing 6 weeks with our death metal colleagues from Vader and Kataklysm. We also have a show in Bahrain before that and we will play at least one song from the album. There’s also a lyric video out for Husk In The Grain and there are more videos to come to promote Siltskin. We also play big festivals as Wacken and Hellfest 2026 and things are just rollin’ for us.
How do you see Blood Red Throne evolving in the next few years?
I don’t see any reason why albums won’t get better. I enjoy death metal even more now than in my 20’s. I have no plans to stop what I’ve build for nearly 30 years. As long as I’m creative and my body keeps going I will make death metal. We will conquer the throne!
The closing is yours.
Brothers and sisters of death metal…Siltskin is our x-mas gift for you. Krank it up and hopefully some smart people will invite this deadly machinery to your beautiful country. Τοστ!
