Throwers | facebook | bandcamp |
Released on January 15, 2016 via Golden Antenna Records
When this German band labels themselves “chaotic hardcore”, who am I to disagree? But to my ears there’s a lot more going on here. Loss comes out of the gates at breakneck pace with crusty d-beat-style twists and turns, but almost immediately slides into more atmospheric territory, albeit underpinned by throat-shredding vitriol.
In fact, throughout the record, just about every time the pummelling claustrophobia threatens to overwhelm, Throwers shift gears and introduce the other carefully curated influences. They’re just as comfortable sitting on a mile-wide sludge riff as they are soaring with some post-rock ascendancy or greasing the wheel with noise rock sidebars.
Indeed, it’s these melodic and rhythmic waypoints that make these seven songs so engaging. Sure, it’s complex, fist-pumping, spit-in-the-eye music, but the brilliant control of dynamics and arrangement expose lots of other layers for exploration and appreciation.
This is not to say that Throwers are genre-dabblers. Far from it. They have a singularity of vision and aesthetic that makes Loss extremely cohesive. It’s just that the way they navigate the tributaries of their music makes the crusty peaks so devastating.
