Throes are a sludge metal band from the US and this is their debut album.
Throes don’t mess around. The band mix together hardcore, sludge metal, and post-metal to create abrasive, harsh music that sounds like the aural equivalent of sandpapering your skin.
This is brutal, highly aggressive and unfriendly stuff. But wait, there’s more than just barbarity on this album. Throes also channel dark emotions through apocalyptic sludge and post-metal, meaning that although they hit hard with rampant brutality, they also have more considered aspects that are just as harsh, but in more refined ways. Think a mix of Neurosis and Amenra in this regard. If you thrown in some caustic hardcore, (as well as the diversity that bands like Cult Leader and Sunlight’s Bane bring to the table), and then cross everything with the infectious songwriting of a band like Raging Speedhorn, then you’ll have a rough idea of what In the Hands of an Angry God is capable of. There’s even a hint of Deftones thrown into the mix.
Operating at a variety of paces this band have several weapons in their arsenal that they can cause damage with. The fast material is so in your face that you want to step back, while the slower stuff is so crushing you want to escape to somewhere light, airy, and wide open. Bleak and hostile, the soundscapes that Throes craft over this 41 minutes might be unrelentingly grim and dark, but you still want to come back for as many visits as you can.
The band have clearly put a lot of work into this music, and it has paid off. In the Hands of an Angry God is a great example of how to produce an album that merges brutality with apocalyptic atmosphere, leaving the music feeling greater than the sum of its parts.
Very highly recommended.
Wonderbox Metal 