Album review: thrown – EXCESSIVE GUILT

Deathcore tends to be mired in its own darkness, dragged down by the sheer density, dread and disgust of it all. Swedish newcomers thrown are different. Treading the surface of that murky, heavyweight genre for extended periods without being fully sucked beneath the surface, on this debut the Stockholm quartet deploy elements of tech and nu-metal to thrilling effect. It results in something more dextrous, fleet-footed and cutting than their more uncompromisingly brutalist peers.

Scraping into life with its pitchy six-strings and pummelling rhythms, opening track guilt immediately invokes home-country legends Raised Fist and Refused. There’s something peculiarly Scandic about the blend of high-tension atmospherics and unrelenting rage. But within sixty seconds they've gone full early Slipknot, with vocalist Marcus Lundqvist spitting disdain without a breath to spare.

Wearing its rock-club ambitions on its tattered sleeve, second track backfire begins to fully unfurl their swagger, alternating between arse-jiggling six strings and all-out stomp. Then on the verge spills right into rap-rock territory, its offbeat hip-hop intro exploding into an onslaught of which Korn could be proud.

Coming in at just over 20 minutes, bloodthirsty efficiency is the name of the game from the off. Brilliantly, though, this is a record that still manages to pick up momentum as it goes along. Coming in at just a minute, ignored packs more punch than most bands do on songs five times its length, while the 90 seconds of vent deliver such overflowing vitriol that most listeners would likely melt were its caustic flow to run much longer. And though stomach-rupturing closer so done is spectacularly definitive in its display of being fed the fuck up, there’s no doubt that thrown are still just getting started on becoming one of heavy music’s most blisteringly brilliant bands. Throw down!

Verdict: 4/5

For fans of: Knocked Loose, Nails, Kublai Khan TX

EXCESSIVE GUILT is out now via Arising Empire