Genre-bending is all the rage these days, but few do it better than Washingtonâs own Wild Throneâa group best characterized by Decibel as a “bizarro psychedelic thrash squad.â
Wild Throne have a distinct sound, one that invokes ââ¦a deranged hardcore twang a la Converge, a galloping Motörhead riff, (and) fusion-y Mars Volta-style guitar acrobatics.â (NPR) Itâs usually a good thing when bands canât be succinctly classified… especially by NPR. Clear-cut music can be easy to file away in the backlogs of the Internet; amidst the noise of the music streaming landscape, only the most salient break through.
Wild Throneâs debut record Harvest of Darkness was released last October, establishing the band’s reputation as genre anomaly. Their uniqueness won them a supporting role on a Mutoid Man tour, and another on an upcoming tour with Norwegian metalers Kvelertak. The bandâs latest single, âFear Yourselfââthe third song off the LPâis indicative of their diverse palette.
The trackâs propulsive guitars and drum work evoke the ferocity of metal, and its rhythmic precision and mercurial form reflect the cinematic breadth of prog rock. The pillar of âFear Yourself,â though, is the operatic tremolo of vocalist, Josh Holland, which is indeed redolent of the Mars Voltaâs Cedric Bixler-Zavala.
Today, Nerdist is premiering the video for âFear Yourself.â In the six-minute clip, shots of a half-crazed Holland walking through the desert are spliced with the band performing and thrashing marvelously in clouds of colored powder. If they werenât the psychedelic thrash squad before, they certainly are now. Check it out above.
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IMAGE: Artist