Throne To The Wolves - Unholiest Of Kings

When Metal and Hardcore finally hooked up after all the playground "I'll act like I hate you because I fancy you" shit, there was a night of despicable passion that resulted in the conception of Metalcore, the great divider.

I'm basically of the school, if it's good it's good. I'm disinterested in the whole "this is what Emo scene kids listened too" b.s as I never paid attention to all that anyway. My personal belief about the genre is though is that it's moved on a long way from those days. And Throne To The Wolves are a decent example of this belief.

They are a metalcore band based in Toronto, Canada and their EP Unholiest of Kings was released in August.

Unholiest of Kings

Opening with the energetic Fear the Faceless, they get right into the nitty gritty with this high energy track full of pace and aggression with a group shout style chorus perfect for fan participation. It's heavy and relentless but it saves its heaviest section for the end with the obligatory Metalcore breakdown to get every one moving, and when you hear this, you wanna move.

Hellraiser has a hint of groove to it which goes down well with me. I realise at this point also that I realise how much the vocals of Billy Hulcup please me, this fellow can howl with the best of them and is capable of some pits of hell style screams. A great choice for the first single.

Bite The Bullet is next up and is a bit more what I would consider to be traditional Metalcore, with a dual clean and heavy vocal. Its a decent track however what comes next really made me pop my head up and take notice...

Every Lit Match (Another Bridge Burned) is a window into the brilliance Throne Of Wolves are capable of. From the start of its eerie intro to the outro it's a balls to the wall thunderbastard, and that in my language is good. High energy, heavy as hell, it's an absolute stomper made to get in the pit for.

Calm Before the Storm brings is back to what I'd consider a standard Metalcore sound, but with some nice little touches, such as a little programmed drum n bass part, not overdone but a nice enhancement which shows the attention to detail in composition. It ends with a great suspense building breakdown before giving you a parting kick in the gut with that brilliant vocal and a heavy riff.

Conclusion

This is a really enjoyable listen. To me it has enough to satisfy the metal heads and Metalcore fans alike. It's got some great little understated touches throughout in terms of programmed sounds but also carries strong musicianship and an excellent vocal.

Score 4/5

Highlights: Hellraiser, Every Lit Match (Another Bridge Burned)

Buy it (less than £3!)

Throne To The Wolves are;
Billy Hulcup - Vocals
Cody McGhee - Drums
James Fyvie and Kyle Jennings - Guitar
Joe Shipton - Bass

Article by Jonny Radley

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