Back In The Throne

Black Hand Throne ~ Vitiorum (2015)

After a widely recognized album with their last effort "IV", Black Hand Throne are back. This time taking a page directly from the stoner doom handbook, creating a concept album that is a stand alone track with a nearly forty minute duration. "Vitiorum" isn't some second rate "Dopesmoker" clone though, using elements from funeral doom metal and bouts of High On Fire styled intensity together to their full potential. After opening up with what sounds like piece of a Jim Jones rant, things start to move along at a bludgeoning pace, dragging the music's immensity with it each beat. The singer's snarled vocals start in almost immediately, telling the tale of "of a man living out the seven deadly sins, while repenting to a religious zealot more twisted than the man before him". Things slow down a bit, offering up a darker, more menacing atmosphere than before. Like the difference between someone beating you with a tire iron, and someone's cold gaze focused on you while plotting your torture and eventual death with said tire iron. The song goes back and forth like this, the endless dance between pummeling heaviness and a slow, crawling darkness. By the time you get to the end of the track, and have spent the last half hour kind of immersed in this whole thing, it starts to switch up a bit. The lighter tones start to show through a little bit, and at one point almost picks up a stoner rock sound. Within the last ten minutes things slow to a crawl with the exception of a howling guitar part. The vocals have even changed by now, simply speaking the lyrics instead of growling them out, and even a little melodic singing some by the very end of the song. You can pick up your vinyl and cds directly from Swamp Metal Records, or check out Black Hand Throne's bandcamp for your digital fix.
~Skip

For Fans Of; Bongzilla, Evoken, Sleep

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Stoned to the Throne

Black Hand Throne ~ IV (2014)

Another band from the state of South Carolina is the sludgy Doom Metal sound coming from Black Hand Throne. In the interest of full disclosure, they were supposed to be featured in the "Rising Sons of the South" article I wrote a little while back, but when I was copy and pasting I must of skipped over them by accident. To make up for my oversight, I decided to expand the small blurb to a full blown album review, because their latest effort "IV" is definitely worth one. If you're looking for that sense of despair and pure annihilation in a Stoner Doom album, look no further than "IV", or pretty much any Black Hand Throne album for that matter. Their sound is that of men with doctorates in the ways of Stoner Doom Metal, taking what the pioneers did, building on it, and making it their own. The growling vocals that get bellowed out remind me of Church of Misery at times, with a super heavy instrument groove that rivals the likes of Sleep. The pounding drum rhythms give way to soul crushing guitars, with the bass guitar loading up the low end with sonic destruction. My favorite track on this album would have to be "War of the Ancients", with an atmospheric opening and walking bass line it takes a few moments for it to turn into a plodding funeral march when the crunchy guitar tones come slamming down. The track really hits its stride just after the start of a slightly cleaner vocal performance, going a little more in the direction of Crowbar this time around. The main riff has a little more of that sludgy, Southern vibe than some of the others, but it absolutely slays anything that stands in its path. As the seven minute opus begins to come to an end, the drummer start up with a slamming outro that really ends the track on a good note, with crunchy guitar tones acting as reinforcements. That's just a taste of what this almost seventy five minute album has to offer, you can pick up a digital copy at their bandcamp, which I think is the only available format at the moment, for ten bucks. While that seems a little steep for a download, it's a buck a track, the going rate at places like iTunes and Amazon. But give it a few streams before you decide, and if you're into it, it'll definitely be ten bucks well spent at the end of the day. 
~Skip

 For Fans Of; Sleep, Electric Wizard, Bongzilla

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