Thron – Dust

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Germany’s black metal quintet Thron has scaled its sound to come to the forefront in the black metal scene. The band was formed in 2015 and released three albums with “Dust” their fourth album which seems never to lose its abrasiveness and aggression. Containing eleven tracks with a total runtime of fifty-five minutes? Thron congeals its musical cohesiveness to the point that each track is manifestly honed.

The opening track ‘Dying in the Mud’ unleashes a furious mix of blazing tremolos with the drums played at a frenzied pace. Much of the pacing seems to be executed in  mid-tempo. Thron‘s vehement artillery comes into play with the solid drumming and the intense barrage of the guitars which maintains the heavy flow of pitch-black riffs. The quintet delivers a focused and powerful bombardment of furious riffs. The songs are characterized by the heavy machinery of the pounding percussion. Morphing viciously into the slow rhythmic tempos the following track ‘Return…’ unpredictably makes use of cold bleak melodies with a rapid-fire riffing assault.

The guitar melodies sound truly menacing in the slower tempos and the vicious tone of the vocals is perfectly suited for this kind of style. The general sound of the band is modulated to convey a malicious mood throughout the album. One can instantly say that Thron’s music is somewhere between the 90s black metal and a more contemporary style. Their song structure is influenced by Swedish black metal. The meandering drums bring out precision and richly textured rhythm guitars. ‘The True Belief’ injects fiery transitions from the mid-pacing heaviness to relentless blast beats. Therefore, the guitars ensure energetic tempos. The subtle touches of ambient passages offer catchiness contrasting with the energetic drums. The guitars have a refined sense and remain the most striking element in the band’s trademark sound but they also show a great scale of displaying great ideas.

The Golden Calf’ offers a scathing assault from the drums with proper double bass, the tempo hits the velocity while heavy riffs and furious blast beats are unleashed. Thron doesn’t only emphasize relentless fury, but also shows the ability of the guitar department to nail acerbic tremolos. There are some catchy dark ambient sounds permeating the background, whereas in other moments the subtle use of the acoustic guitar and the change in pace renders a dark atmosphere. ‘Monologue’ is one of the shortest songs that delivers an array of grinding drums and heavy rumbling guitar lines.

Lead guitars and melodies are combined to add depth to the song and sometimes the shift in the drumming is noticeable. ‘Dust’ imparts the technical skills of the band proving that Thron employs enough variation. The explosion of the percussion on tracks like ‘The Eve’ delivers a tight performance from the band and the guitar department never fails to impress me with its searing riffs. The music maintains a fiery sound, even the bass guitar gets to shine in a few moments when the drums take a smooth shift. More subtle effects of the guitars give songs like ‘Into Oblivion’ an extra dark atmosphere in the opening moments. The guitars fuse the abrasive fiery riffs with the rhythm pouring a dark atmosphere into their sleek and modern craft.

The styling of these Germans comes very close to bands like Necrophobic, The Spirit, and Naglfar. The band is truly gifted. The dual guitars on ‘In Tyranny of I’ pull some savage tremolos, emphasizing its slow but dark palpable rhythm to combine with sinister vocals and catchy melodies that are reminiscent of Dissection. At first, listening to the track ‘Face of Despair’, the keyboards immediately caught my attention. It seems that Thron knows exactly how to create a dark atmosphere. Through the excellent use of the tremolos, there are some fine guitar melodies that remind me of the band Tribulation.

The Wrong God’ and the final track ‘Martyr’ are both spectacular songs and offer a great mixture of traditional heavy metal. One can easily get impressed by the fine songwriting and coherence that showcases the unique skills of the individuals. The latter track is noteworthy for its overblown, grandiose nature of the guitar arrangement making it splendid, with its towering rhythms the band effectively keeps things dark and somewhat bleak as the frosty winter encases you in the majestic darkness.

REVIEW SCORE

  • Music / Songwriting 8/10
  • Vocals / Lyrics 8/10
  • Mix / Production 10/10
  • Artwork & Packaging 9/10
  • Originality 8/10
8.6

‘Dust’ is a spectacular album, highly recommended for fans of old-school and modern black metal. There are plenty of remarks about the quality of the music that shouldn’t be overlooked!

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