Crimson Thorn
Crimson Thorn have been around for years, and as far as I know are still together but have only released two albums in that time. Crimson Thorn play technical, heavily downtuned death metal.

Unearthed Crimson Thorn-Unearthed (R.E.X.)

1. "Unearthed" (3:21)
2. "Decrepit" (3:30)
3. "Cultivate Decay" (4:03)
4. "Ignorant Self" (3:03)
5. "Your Carcass" (2:56)
6. "Asphyxiated" (3:28)
7. "Malignant Masters" (3:35)
8. "Defaced" (3:10)
9. "Comatose" (5:28)
10. "Immanent Wrath" (2:55)
11. "No Exceptions" (2:33)

This disc has be re-released by at least three different record companies. The first was Atomic, but it had lousy mastering and cover art. The next was this R.E.X. issue, which sported better mastering and far superior cover art. When R.E.X went under, this album became a hot collectors item. Eventually the short lived label Morphine put out a third version of "Unearthed" with a black and white cover and 6 bonus tracks, that were taken from Crimson Thorn's "Plagued" demo. The production on the bonus tracks are seriously flawed, besides the fact that Crimson Thorn had yet to find their sound yet, so the demo cuts sound weak in comparison to the technically proficient death metal that is "Unearthed." The R.E.X. version, is therefore the prefered choice of many collector's including myself, although I have owned all three versions at one time or another.

Dissection Crimson Thorn-Dissection (Morphine)

1. "Beaten Beyond" (4:19)
2. "Eternal Life" (3:29)
3. "Deepest Affliction" (4:06)
4. "Dissection" (3:45)
5. "Putrid Condemnation" (3:17)
6. "All Authority" (6:00)
7. "Blood Letting" (4:15)
8. "My Salvation" (:48)
9. "Suffering" (5:00)
10. "I Ask" (1:41)
11. "2nd Timothy" (2:59)
12. "Grave and Rebirth" (4:57)
13. "Psallo" (3:37)
14. "Loud 'N' Clear" (10:41)

This is one of the most technical and pummeling death metal albums ever! I would put this up against bands like Obituary, Carcass, and Cannibal Corpse. Crimson Thorn are one of the few Christian death metal bands that could ever be put in that category. The vocals one both albums are low and ultra-gutteral. For those who care, there is a liner note that warns than no effects were used on the vocals. "Loud 'N' Clear" is a Stryper cover. Despite the deceiving length of the song, the actual song is only just above three minutes in length. There is a hidden, experimental techno-rap-death metal joke song hidden at the end after several minutes of silence. Like their first album, this disc has seen more than one release on more than one label. The original Morphine version is hard to find, but the Little Rose re-issue is just as good and contains a superior quality print job on the cover. Morphine's version came with a red and black vinyl bumper sticker, or at least mine did.

Back to Index