The Netherlands’ Written in Blood will be of interest to God Dethroned fans, as it features their former bassist and backing vocalist, Bert Hoving, who served in the band for their first few releases (he’s aided by a few other Dutch death/black metal veterans). Also, Henri Sattler produced this, the band’s second EP in 2026, after a debut album in 2022, which I have not heard.
So it’s no surprise that this 6-song, 22-minute EP has some expected God Dethroned influence in its melodic but gritty death/black metal. But Sattler’s production makes it a little different, as here the guitar tone has a much more Stockholm/Swedish buzz. So basically imagine God Dethroned songs and vocals with a beefy, buzzsaw production. So then yeah, it’s pretty good.
Starting with the classic Stockholm center of “Unholy Return”, through the unmistakably God Dethroned-sounding title track and ending with the outro, “Trapped in a Dark Forest”, the EP delivers a solid mix of blistering black/death metal and chunky Swedish grooves. I can also hear some Bolt Thrower and Hail of Bullets in tracks like “Ghost Warriors” and “We Drink the Blood”, where the trundling riffs let the killer guitar tone really shine and deliver war-mongering, blood-pumping goodness.
After hearing this EP, I will be going back to check out the 2022 self-titled debut album, as well as looking forward to the next full-length album, as this hits all of the death metal sweet spots for me, and will for you too.
