Band : Hero Destroyed
Album : Throes
Release Year : 2010
Genre : Mathcore | Chaotic | Experimental
Tracklist :
01 That's An Axe
02 Iron Lion
03 Justifying the Hypothetical
04 Permian-Triassic
05 Army of Draccoons
06 Minion
07 The Last Upper
08 Cerberus
09 You Might As Well Go Plan B
10 Dom Wampus
11 Wickerbasket Splinter
Musically, Throes is not that bad an album. As stated, fans of the whole Mathcore movement will find some delight within this recording thanks to the complex guitar chords utilized throughout each track of the album, but this isn't the band's only ammunition they carry either. The band does still manage to weave some of the traditional elements of the Metalcore style within the music to move the album along at the proper pace without resorting to technical overkill. "Justifying the Hypothetical" is a great example of this, as it blends in some fantastic Math chords throughout, and in some spots even wind up causing the music to act as if it had a seizure momentarily, then go right back into the regular song as if nothing had happened. The technical riffs appear through the song, but it's the hard hitting complex Metalcore-standard guitars that wind up pushing the song along and keep the listener interested, especially at the very end when the music just gradually gets faster and more intense without being all that noticable at first. The same intensity that happens on this song lingers on all the material of Throes.
02 Iron Lion
03 Justifying the Hypothetical
04 Permian-Triassic
05 Army of Draccoons
06 Minion
07 The Last Upper
08 Cerberus
09 You Might As Well Go Plan B
10 Dom Wampus
11 Wickerbasket Splinter
Musically, Throes is not that bad an album. As stated, fans of the whole Mathcore movement will find some delight within this recording thanks to the complex guitar chords utilized throughout each track of the album, but this isn't the band's only ammunition they carry either. The band does still manage to weave some of the traditional elements of the Metalcore style within the music to move the album along at the proper pace without resorting to technical overkill. "Justifying the Hypothetical" is a great example of this, as it blends in some fantastic Math chords throughout, and in some spots even wind up causing the music to act as if it had a seizure momentarily, then go right back into the regular song as if nothing had happened. The technical riffs appear through the song, but it's the hard hitting complex Metalcore-standard guitars that wind up pushing the song along and keep the listener interested, especially at the very end when the music just gradually gets faster and more intense without being all that noticable at first. The same intensity that happens on this song lingers on all the material of Throes.
The album introduces the listener to what's to come properly on "That's An Axe", though it's easily one of the more weaker tracks on here due to some of the more "core' stereotypes that appear in the background, but this, as well as plenty of others on this release like "The Last Upper", all retain that same Hardcore "in your face" feel musically that simple doesn't let up as soon as the track starts. At first, going through some of these songs, it may seem like it's a bit drawn out the more you get into it, but it's simply not the case most of the time. Sure, sometimes it may get a little irritating as yo go through, and songs like "Cerberus" exist to throw you s curveball with a sudden change in the band's music, such as this track's slower and more melodic riffs, as well as the fact that it's an instrumental. There's also the odd ball "Permian-Triassic" which works well to introduce the next song, "Army of Draccoons", but would have been best as an introductory track to the album instead of being tossed into the mix as it's own track three songs into the album. While it does bleed into "Ary of Draccoons", it still causes a shift int he flow of the album up to that point, and even feels a but useless where it's placed in the mix. These aspects of the album, as well as the simple fact that there isn't much change musically through Throes is enough to make the listener grow a little tired of the album after the first few spins.
One thing the album strongly lacks is substance. While the band has managed to figure out a great structure and write some hard hitting songs that captivate the listener and set him or her up to be tense and ready to mosh, dance, or flat out brawl, it doesn't offer much new outside of comining a traditional Metalcore sound with Hardcore intensity and comples guitars. This simple structure for the album works well to create an album people can just grab and casually listen to, yes, but after a while it does start to get mundane, and after a number of spins it doesn't boil down to which songs are as bad as the others, but rather how many times you'll hear the same concept. Outside that, the production winds up sounding a bit hollow as well. The vocals work with the music for it's "core" aggression, but often they can sound forced, or even off tone with the rest of the music. Other then the vocals, there could have been some more diswtortion on the guitars to add more of an edge to the music, or even a slight echo, as there are moments that simply sound hollow when the band is playing chords that aren't slow, but there's a noticable gap when the small chord section that makes up that part of the song happens, such as during "Wickerbasket Splinter".
In the end, Throes is a good album for what it is, and a rather impressive first full-length from Hero Destroyed. The band winds up putting together a nice combination as far as the music goes, but it's clear they still need time to expand on it and try to not make it so mechanical. Until then, Hero Destroyed will be a band worth checking out for the potential they do possess either way, even though it may not be enough to have you keep an eye on the band at times.
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