Meeting The Mighty THRONEHAMMER!
~By Mel Lie~
I cannot remember exactly when I first stumbled over the band THRONEHAMMER and got to know its bloody riffer, guitarist Stuart "Bootsy" West, but I know very well that the band's definitive sound still holds its spell over me. The band, which have a track on our Doomed & Stoned in Deutschland compilation, recently released a split with New Zealand's Lord of Solitude on The Church Within Records, called 'Vol. I: Vampire Bites' (2018), and it is my pleasure to throw you listeners into this haunting tomb of doom. Join me now in the mosh pit of groovy psychedelic sludge and bloody horror, as I visit with Thronehammer's masterful vocalist Kat Shevil Gillham.
Vol. 1 - Vampire Bites by Lord of Solitude / Thronehammer
Like a full force axe blow to the skull, it is crushingly heavy, dark and epic.
November 30th was the official day of freedom for the doom vampire “Hammer, Stake & Cross," from your 10" split on The Church Within Records. Congratulations! We'd love to become better acquainted with Thronehammer, starting with the background of everyone who is in the band.
Thronehammer's recording line-up on this recent release is Tim Schmidt on bass and drums (he currently plays in the bands Naked Star, Seamount, and Swath), Stuart West on guitar and keyboards (ex-member of Obelyskkh), and myself on vocals. My musical background is in doom and death metal. I was in the doom band Blessed Realm and currently also play in Uncoffined, Lucifer's Chalice, Winds of Genocide, Nine Altars, and Enshroudment. They are based in the Bavaria part of Germany and I am based in North East England. I write the lyrics for the band currently, although Stuart comes up with the song titles, gives them to me, and gives me total freedom lyrically. This has worked out great so far.
Thronehammer is a kind of amalgamation of two countries, drawing members from both Germany and the United State. How did this arrangement come together?
Well, Stuart contacted me around February of this year saying he was searching for a new vocalist for his band Thronehammer and asked if I'd be interested, so I said, "Yeah, sure. Send some music to me." He sent over the songs he had written, I loved what I heard, so I was in the band! Things moved very quickly after that. Stuart and I were going to do a project together some 10 years ago, around 2007 or 2008, but it never happened due to various reasons.
Is there any special meaning to "Thronehammer"?
Stuart came up with the band name. He said it is fiction and that he wanted something strong and mighty. The name Thronehammer conjures up images of epic bloody battles on misty fields surrounded by ancient woods and hills to my mind, where opponents battle to the death with swords, axes, and other primitive weapons of war without remorse.
How would you describe Thronehammer style to new listeners?
I'd describe the Thronehammer sound as heavy doom, with a lot of riffs and hooks that will embed themselves in your head like a full force axe blow to the skull. It is crushingly heavy, dark, and epic, mixing influences from bands such as Solitude Aeturnus, Candlemass, Goatsnake, Warhorse, Winter, Saint Vitus, early Trouble, etcetera. It is also very atmospheric in parts, with the use of keyboards and effects. Music is subjective, though, so I am sure people will hear different things in our music.
Tell us more about the song on this split.
The track "Hammer, Stake & Cross" is influenced very much by old Hammer and horror films of the vampiric kind, where the undead leave their coffins at night seeking human victims and to drink the blood of the living. Dracula (featuring Bela Lugosi), Horror of Dracula, Nosferatu, Scars of Dracula, and Dracula Has Risen From The Grave were all lyrical influences for our song on the split. The lyrics on our forthcoming full-length album 'Usurper Of The Oaken Throne' (2019) deal with other lyrical themes, though.
You have a new LP on the way?
Yes, the full-length album Usurper Of The Oaken Throne is now recorded. We finished all the music and vocal tracking for that recently, so this album will be released in early 2019, again via The Church Within Records. Hopefully some Thronehammer live shows will follow that release! Watch out for more details.
Would you like to give our readers a few last words on the way out, Kat?
We have came to slay...prepare to be crushed by the Thronehammer!
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