ninehertz

For a band with a frequent release schedule, it dawned on me a few months back that Throth had been inactive for a long period. I played my downloaded copies of their releases back-to-back, mourning their assumed passing while hoping they are okay. Which may seem a odd sentiment, but then this is a band renowned for self-deprecating lyrics of misery. Rarely do I even notice lyrics, never mind be impacted by them, but by some weird anomaly it is this mysterious band from Bristol who have provided the greatest effect.

But they’re back, to raise once again a smile against the grain. There are four tracks, noticeably back down to a single vocalist after the dual delivery of their last releases, and this is in classic Throth territory. Hear Abandon with its ponderously stomping guitar creating their trademark downcast mood within which the vocals are only more than comfortable to wallow and express their disdain for life.

The unique melancholy of the vocals and how they sit within the dirty toned doom are Throth’s constant, heard acutely on Woody as it ploughs a single line into a mesmerising state. The closing Happiness exemplifies what I guess we’d call doomgaze, or at least how it should be if we must have the term, where enticing vocals pitch against doom toned guitars that carry a weight. There is – a rarity for Throth – something of a light-bringing upwards inflecting note or two in the song, a reflection of the title, but I definitely hear it and, as their return comes to a triumphant end, it makes me happy. I hope they are too.