The distorted synths and churning mechanical guitars of industrial Londoners THIS BE THE VERSE [8] are heavily indebted to Nine Inch Nails, but intense tracks like Ungrateful Me and The Wrong Road are full of promise, even if the influences are too brazen to ignore.
Washington’s WILD THRONE [9] also borrow liberally to create their mathy stoner-prog metal – from bands as diverse as Blood Brothers, Protest the Hero, QOTSA and The Mars Volta.
Yet they sound like no one else on the planet and witnessing the trio erupt in an explosion of episodic arrangements and ferociously complex time signatures in this tiny room above a Camden boozer is something of a sensory overload. Highlights The Wrecking Ball Unchained and sprawling closer Shadow Deserts, from their staggeringly accomplished debut Harvest Of Darkness, blend early Mastodon-esque riffery with unpredictable, proggy twists and blistering drumming, while frontman Joshua Holland’s howling vocals reach notes where only the Cedric Bixler-Zavalas and Robert Plants of the world dare to go. It’s chaos, but tightly controlled. Every searing solo and gleaming riff is a brain-bleeding assault delivered with blade-sharp precision. Over an hour’s set, the energy and quality never falters no matter how many ideas are thrown in. Right now, Wild Throne’s ambition and potential are limitless.
