Morningstar records, the label and the people behind it, have made a big mistake agreeing to release an album such as 'Genocide' as their initial (thus, the most important) 'visiting card', for if anyone would judge a young label by its releases, the resolutions it has made by signing the artists, making any sort of statement by such maneuvers and trying to prove some point to the metal crowds – the only outcome I see for the label, if indeed this is its trend manifested through 'Genocide, is failure, a bitter, quick failure, unless the metal crowds have become as faceless and mediocre as this album…

Bloodthorn is an anomaly in the metal underground, as it changes styles, radically, from album to album, thus it is virtually unrecognizable as a band, if one would judge it upon its four full length creations: they are so different from one another, that unless there was the band's logo printed on the cover, no one would believe – not in a million years – it's the same band that had released those so-very-different albums…

On the other hand, Bloodthorn is not an anomaly at all, but a band among million other bands, which follows a certain path: the path to oblivion, globalization, the demise of identity and creativity…

With each release, Bloodthorn loses some of its uniqueness so baldly manifested in its debut and sophomore efforts: the majestic 'In The Shadow Of Your Black Wings' showcases Bloodthorn's finest hour, becoming one of the very best dark metal releases I've encountered (although an extremely underrated and an overlooked album), to the more pompous, extravagant 'Onwards Into Battle' where the band displayed an impressive mixture of black and death metal with extreme catchiness and wonderful bigger-than-life tunes, a band that had proved it was with enough balls to employ a female singer whose part in the music was not negligible, that made me shudder, literally…

Enter "Under the reign of terror" era. Although still dark borderline death metal, albeit very stripped-down and sort of back-to-roots album, it had its moments, moments and production that were enough to hold a pretty decent album that still spins sometimes in my stereo system…

Now, on the other hand, 'Genocide' is bullshit, plain and simple. I don't know what hit these guys, but I do know something's rotten in the kingdom of Bloodthorn. In the year 2006, no one who regards himself as a serious artist/musician should write and play albums like 'Genocide'. This is, to say the least, the epitome of lack of inspiration and repetitiveness, lack of creativity and thoughtlessness to the hilt. Nobody should have created such a dull album, because this very album has been created so many times in the past, over and over again, it overflows my cup of boredom and resentment: not a single note Bloodthorn could call their own, not one, imagine this… Well, finally, four albums and ten years after the band's inception, it has completely lost (or willfully has given up) any shard of identity it owned (and it proved at least a couple of times that it did). This saddens me, for Bloodthorn has been (and still is) a source of enjoyment and profound experience via the band's two first albums, and more than anything, it has spawned forth a unique statement, atmosphere, it offered a face, character, a sound, a finger print, whereas now – with 'Genocide – it has faded completely into the murky background, absorbed into the great forgetfulness and will be erased from the public awareness shortly.

This is the fate of a band whose forth album could be summed up by: some sort of second or third tier, dime-for-dozen death metal/deathgrind, blast beat happy, vocally terribly flawed, redundant, disposable and nothing more… Bloodthorn, just fuck off!...

written by Chaim Drishner

Playing time: 42.52