Though Thron is a relatively new German band, one could easily believe that they are genuinely from Scandinavia circa 1995 (though with more modern sounding production). In fact, I'd say that Thron takes the blackened tremolo sonics of the 90's and meshes them with just the right touch of 80's influence from the likes of Iron Maiden and Mercyful Fate. They also toss in a bit of early 90's death. Putting it all together, this quintet is able to compose a blackened death metal record that truly can appeal to almost everyone.
The classic metal riffing at interspersed with appropriate time changes and a generous amount of tremolo picking is at the heart of the band's first single, "Return." This particular track showcases the band quite well and what they can do. It's aggressive when it needs to be yet contemplative as well. It's not just all speed all the time and that's a welcome change from the myriad of bands out there today who seem to just have that simple minded focus. The video's been getting some recent traction and it's easy to see why.
I will say though that's really the album opener that hit me first. "Dying in the Mud," has this foreboding darkness to it with a dual riffs over a perfectly paced double bass beat that just seems to invite you right in. This song makes me feel like I'm about to embark on some expedition in the dead of the German Black Forest on crisp late Fall night.
Speaking of riffs, "The Golden Calf" just has this sharp blistering riff that cuts through the mix like a slaughterers longknife. But that's not all. It gets a little proggy as well with a bit of a nice little atmospheric interlude to break up the undeniable heft on the song. Don't get me wrong, I most certainly love bands that bring it full force for the entire duration of the track, but I also love nuance and texture and that's where Thron really stands out. Thron seems to know that you, the listener, know that they can be heavy-as-fuck so they add in these closely related tangents to their compositions that take you off the beaten path just a bit in order to showcase just how much musicality they actually possess.
Lyrically, it's not difficult to decipher the message here, and the bands lyrics are English, not German, thus helping them gain some easier acceptance over in this part of the world. Regarding the words on Dust the band explains that, ""Everything is crumbling to dust someday. Everything that ever lived, but also the symbols of our civilizations will dissolve into infinity, no matter how much power one had or how weak and small he was. Which makes mankind very small and insignificant in the face of the big picture of the universe. Just a mote of dust in the infinity of space and time."
I'm not gonna lie here even if it means losing some street cred, but I'm late to the Thron bandwagon. Dust is the first piece of music I've heard from them, but this is actually their fourth LP in the six years. Gotta respect that. I feel like I've strike a small gold mine here with their back catalogue.
Thron, unfortunately, is one of those bands I have yet to see live, however, after listening to Dust they undoubtedly on my "must see" list. Let's hope that inflation gets under control and we can get these guys over to North America for some shows more sooner than later. Without any doubt, Dust is going to stay in my regular listening rotation for many months to come. Don't pass this record over, it's the real deal.
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