Thron – Dust (Review)

Thron are a black metal band from Germany and this is their fourth album.

Now boasting the drummer of the mighty Aara in their ranks, Dust contains 55 minutes of accomplished black metal. I haven’t caught up with the band since 2018’s Abysmal, so it’s good to hear what they’re up to once more, and I have not been disappointed. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Dust is essentially a melodic black metal that should find favour with fans of bands such as Necrophobic, Naglfar, Dissection, Watain, Dark Funeral, etc. This is well-written, professionally recorded, and delivered by people that clearly know what they are doing.

The songs are furious and aggressive, with a cold blackened heart that’s warmed considerably by the frequent molten metal leads. Of these, you can distinctly hear non-black metal influences to some of these from acts like Slayer and Iron Maiden. This works well to enhance the band’s metallic delivery. Other thrash, death, and heavy metal elements can be heard also, enriching Thron’s sharp melodic black metal with further ways to make its mark.

A great deal of the material is memorable and even catchy. A focus of the songwriting seems to have been on the creation of hooks, while still offering a well-rounded blackened experience overall. Due to the band’s non-black metal influences being incorporated into Dust so expertly the album benefits from a range of  interesting good ideas in addition to the core ones that you would expect for a release like this. This side of the music manifests in a variety of ways, making for a much more diverse and immersive album than I confess I was expecting.

Dust has impressed. Thron have produced a striking example of melodic black metal played with depth and nuance, and it’s a great record to get to know over time as its full splendour unfolds.

Very highly recommended.