Getting albums for review is crazy, y’all. I mean, a label or PR firm actually wants to hear what thoughts you might have, be they good or well, not so much. I’ve been so fortunate to do these for well over a decade now, with no plans to stop in the near future. And sometimes we get records months before release. When that happens, oh man am I happy. Such is the case with Throne and their new disc That Who Sat Upon Him, Was Death. I’ve been sitting upon this beast of a metal disc since January, like an asp guarding the Lost Ark.
Upon pressing play (for the first of many, many listens) I was all in. I mean I was ready to take out a second mortgage just to get these guys to play my next birthday gig! Nathan Barnes (rhythm guitar & vocals) and Tim Kenefic (lead guitars) bring the riff hammer down on heads that are not only unsuspecting, but destined for concussions. Then there’s the rhythm section of Kollin Perpignani (drums) and Leslie Drake (bass) who take a track like “Upon Deathless Winds” and make it their insane business to melt it much like the T-1000’s liquid metal in Terminator 2! Fuckin’ Hell, this song destroys!!
“Behold Impurity” comes for you with great vengeance and furious anger, while opener “Disentombed” and subsequent follow-up tune “To Breathe the Unknown” are like two sides of the same coin, equal parts chaos and mayhem. Guess what? I am here for it! As if the preceding tunes hadn’t already rained down blood and flames, closer “Where Angels Cower In Fear” comes in to gut you sonically like a fish, just for good measures. At day’s end That Who Sat Upon Him, Was Death is a fantastic album from Throne. You should get this one in you with a quickness!!
Standout Tracks: All of them.