Wild Throne’s spastic and mathematically melodic album Harvest of Darkness, which is their Roadrunner Records debut, is out now. Haven’t heard it? You don’t say? Well, shame on you! Find out what all the fuss is about and get acquainted with the Washington-based band now by reading this informative Q&A.
Also, have a listen to the title track or “The Wrecking Ball Unchained,” which are two of the most the solid songs on Harvest of Darkness. Those things combined might mean you have found your new favorite band. ARTISTdirect’s Amy Sciarretto grabbed some time with the heavy metal power trio, speaking largely with singer/guitarist Josh Holland while the band, rounded out by drummer Noah Burns and bassist Jeff Johnson, was rehearsing for a one off gig.
Amy Sciarretto: For our readers who do not already know, tell us what Wild Throne sounds like. The band has had been given a warm welcome by a lot of cool and hip metal blogs and publications since its inception.
Josh Holland: We are so new, so some people don’t know us yet. I try to stick with the term ‘hard rock’ but it does have a psychedelic thrash thing, too. Our influences go back to the forefathers and proto metal like early The Scorpions or even early prog bands like Yes. And more current bands like Mars Volta and stuff like that.
AS: Those are some disparate influences, but the end result, which is Wild Throne’s music, is rather cohesive.
JH: Noah and I have been playing music together for 13 years. We’ve been in other bands and we have taken breaks here and there and we have changed up things. We have established a language and we can read each other’s thoughts. We started doing Wild Throne about two years ago. We had been spazzing out pretty hard for 10 years and wondered if we could turn that into songs. It has been challenging to try and focus our spazzy tendencies into a coherent vision. It is fulfilling to write a good hook.
AS: Is there anything specific and non-obvious you want people to know about the release or the band?
JH: I want people to know that it exists. I want people to know its coming out on vinyl — hopefully by the end of the year or sometime in the new year. We came out of nothing… this small town in Bellingham. When people hear it, they respond to this weird music we are making that they can’t get anywhere else. I want you to know that we exist. I want people to hear it and have an opinion about it.
AS: Let’s pick a song on the album where you give us an inside look at what it’s about or how it came to be.
JH: ‘The Wrecking Ball Unchained’ is one of my favorite songs. It was actually the first song we ever wrote. As I said, we have been in bands for years, with each other and elsewhere, and we play spazzy riffs. There is not a lot of singing — just noise and psychedelia and metal. When we started Wild Throne, and said, ‘Let’s try writing songs,’ this is what we tried. What do they say? The most obvious answer is the right one. This came out of us when we didn’t know what we were doing.
AS: Noah’s beard is pretty epic, which begs the question, since he is also in the room. How do you care for it? Beard oils?
Noah Burns: I don’t do anything to it. It just grows. I don’t even use a trimmer. I don’t get a lot of food in it. I’ve been growing it on and off since I was 16. If there is ever a spider in it, it’s coming off.
AS: Beard maintenance aside, what is on the Wild Throne docket for 2016?
JH: We have some touring planned that we are piecing together. All of 2016 is going to be touring and touring. We are trying to go overseas, which is a huge goal for us. We have a lot of people that like us there, too.
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