Let’s just cut to the chase here; Throne are fucking awesome. The London based doom trio have only been active for a couple of years, but already sound far more assured than many of their more long-in-the-tooth contemporaries. Like every self-respecting riff-oholic, these guys (and gal) worship at the altar of Sabbath, Sleep and Pentagram, but rather than just paying lip service to their heroes, Throne have stamped their own identity all over their anthemic and delightfully heavy sound.
They’ve also written a load of fantastic and utterly infectious songs, which helps them stand out from the pack to no end. Their debut release, the double A-side ‘Heavy Lies The Crown / The Loser Must Bow’ 7″ endeared to them to doom fiends across the UK, and forthcoming EP ‘Where Tharsis Sleeps’ is even better; this is the kind of record you just want to crank up and wail along to whilst cruising around in the sun with all the windows wound down so the whole world can hear.
The band will be playing at the Cob Studios & Gallery in Camden tomorrow night, to launch ‘Where Tharsis Sleeps’ (for more information about that, you can find the Facebook Event Page for the gig here), so this seemed like the perfect time to make them our Band Of The Day and quiz them on “writing the most devastating, pancreas shattering riff ever”…
WORDS: Kez Whelan
WHO ARE THEY: Throne
WHERE ARE THEY FROM: London
FOR FANS OF: Black Sabbath, Sleep, Limb
LATEST RELEASE: ‘Where Tharsis Sleeps’ (2014)
WEBSITE: Facebook
How did Throne get started, where did you form, how did you meet and when did you begin?
Will (Michael, bass): “We formed in London a couple of years ago whilst me and Julia were at uni together. We met Nicos and soon after put out a double A side in December 2012 (I think Terrorizer actually premiered the track!) then we spent a really long time not doing much except the occasional show and writing new material.”
Did you have a specific sound in mind when you formed the band, or did that grow and evolve as you played together?
Will: “No, we didn’t have a clue to begin with, we had a set list of five or six songs that all sounded totally different, some were really grungy and some were like sludgy instrumental shit, we don’t play any of those songs now. I think it’s something a lot of bands do when they first form, try and shoehorn in all their influences to their sound, once we stopped doing that and worked out how we actually sounded playing together it was way better, we make the music we would want to hear if we weren’t playing it.”
What kind of stuff are you and the rest of the band into? Who would you cite as influences?
Will: “Ok, absolute favourites between us are Maiden, Sabbath, Deep Purple, Queen and The Misfits.
“Influences, besides all those obvious bands, are harder to pinpoint because we all listen to so much different music, and everything influences you in some way. Someone once told me they could hear a bit of a CKY influence on us, I liked that they heard that because I’d never have cited them as an influence, but totally loved them when I was 15, something must have stuck.”
How does your writing process normally work out? Will you meet up with song ideas pretty much fully formed beforehand, or do you tend to jam stuff out a bit more?
Will: “It’s pretty much always the same, I write a riff and then show the others, if they like it we’ll jam it together, if we still like it after playing it for hours then we flesh it out and make a song structure. Nicos writes his lyrics and guitar solos last and kind of decides what the song is about.”
‘Ascender’ has been stuck in my head for weeks now – what can you tell us about the rest of the new EP?
Will: “I’m glad you like it. The EP is called ‘Where Tharsis Sleeps’, it’s our kind of attempt at a concept record, we like that classic prog thing of having a narrative on a record. It’s kind of like science fiction, it’s about space travel, but within that it’s more about introspection, seeking solace and finding none.”
What are your ambitions for Throne?
Will: “We’d love to play a gig on the moon, using the world’s combined nuclear arsenal to power our amplifiers like at the end of Bill ‘n’ Ted. We’re also very interested in writing the most devastating, pancreas shattering riff ever, a combination of notes so utterly mean, that when played it will result in puddles of molten face wherever it’s heard. And besides those stupid things I just said, we’re just stoked to keep playing shows, recording music and seeing new places.”
What’s been your best moment as a band? And on the flipside, what’s been the worst thing to happen to you in music?
Will: “Shows is my answer to both. Good shows are the best, playing to a good crowd who are into it is worth travelling fucking far and humping huge amps about for. Luckily we haven’t had many bad experiences at shows, but occasionally you get a weakener of a promoter or shitty sound which can be a downer.”
What’s next for you guys?
Will: “Along with this EP we’re releasing our first music video for the song ‘Tharsis Sleeps’. It’s a ridiculous animation that Nicos has made where every single frame is an embroidered denim patch. The video was only really made possible as the result of a Kickstarter we did at the start of the year, the support from friends and fans was insane. We’ve ended up with a video that no one else in their right mind would ever try and make because it would just be too expensive, (it’s been nearly six months in production) and we’ve done it all without the support of a big label or management which is something we’re pretty proud of. After that we’re going to finish writing our album and get it recorded.”
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