Forsaken Throne - "Bloodline" (2025)

Every now and then, there arrives an album that knocks your socks off. Totally and completely unexpected. Perhaps, different than your usual taste … but I always say normal is boring, and “the same” keeps you in a rut. 

From the literal first second, the music of Forsaken Throne tore the roof off of any expectations I had. Their album Bloodline was released in August last year and was my introduction to the band.

When it comes to hard rock and metal, my background is rather limited, but I also feel very strongly about the bands in those genres who I do obsess over. . .Led Zeppelin was my teenage breakthrough into heavier music. In more recent years, I have been introduced to Tool, and the loudest concert I have attended was Gojira and Korn when they performed in Kansas City in 2024. This foundation built a strong appreciation for music outside of my comfort zone and to admire the complexities that dwell in the genre.

The opening track “Creature of Habit” is one that I keep returning to. From the first second, absolutely NO TIME is wasted when it comes to building energy. The percussion elements on the track invoke a strong fascination, a drive that carries the song. It tackles the audience’s attention straight from the get-go and the power that pours from the track tears into the next songs - “Cloak of Silence” and “Virtual God.” The vocals demand authority, while still being understandable and poetic. Every lyric, every note is deliberate, calculated to invoke the most power possible. 

When one looks past the initial film of the high-power, high-driving energy, they can hear the drive of the rhythm section. The drums are strong, determined, and the bass builds an intense groove throughout the music. 

Listening through the album, a comparison to Gojira is very easy to make. Gojira is one of my favorite bands both in the studio and in a live setting. Their drive and energy is infectious. Forsaken Throne certainly carries a similar element when it comes to tracks like “Tesseract,” “Virtual God,” and even the instrumental “Dark Night of the Soul.”

However, as the album wraps up, Forsaken Throne has their own unique elements: this contagiously, courageous approach of immediate energy from track one to the final track - weaving with pitstops including the aforementioned instrumental track and slower songs featuring keys - builds a confident, engaging experience. Of course, one should listen to it in the order it was released. . .but I feel that one could pick any track off the album and find a strength of the band to reflect on. As the cliche goes, “all killer no filler.”

Forsaken Throne knows how to create, grab the listener by the shoulders and shake them with a devoted passion. Tracking in at 10 songs, I could easily listen to another 10 tracks. Bloodline evokes a strong forest-fire of driving, energetic, AWESOME music. Forget your expectations, approach with an open-minded, and have the roof of your skull blown right off with their music!

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Album Credits:

Forsaken Throne is

Matthew Contino

Craig Santangelo

Peter Tinari

Robert Tinari

Producers: Forsaken Throne

Engineer: Peter Tinari