When I read something like that, my metal head skips a few beats in utter delight, especially when it's coming from a doom metal band. The mindset is right, the music is perfect, so what can go wrong? Well, I'll tell you what's wrong with this album. It's too damn good. This is one of those albums that I would buy instantly after a three seconds listening session.
Throneless hails from Malmö, Sweden. They spew out their bitterness and frustration through tons of fuzz in four great songs. Opener 'Master Of Nothing' immediately blasts the thick riffs through my speakers, accompanied by massy drums and awesome clean vocals. I think about Winter, Conan, Moss and Yob but mostly I'm just gradually being hypnotised by the repetitive hammering on my awareness.
'Cavedrones' effortlessly repeats that constant banging for a while, before it suddenly makes it even more crushing by raising the tempo. At this point I've started headbanging myself into a pitch black state of trance, envisioning the doomed hordes assault the so-called 'one percent'. 'Thinning The Herd' takes on a bit of a haunted, eerie approach, while still being a massive piece of doom metal.
'Reaching For The Dead', the longest track on this album, does things a bit different. While the first three songs are crushing examples of doom metal, this one delves a bit into the post-scene. Here some elaborate instrumental passages come very close to post-rock. I really like it, it brings a great sense of variation to the whole. Therefore, this is my favorite track.
Yet, in all, this is a brilliant album. If you like any of the bands I mentioned earlier in this review, you will undoubtedly embrace this steamroller. With a debut like this, I can see great things for Throneless in the near future and I hope I can see them live soon. Needless to say that this comes highly recommended.
Serge