Before a couple weeks ago, I didn’t know a lot about Throne Torcher, but I’ve come to like what I’ve discovered. Their moniker gets two thumbs up. That they’re Canadian stirs up some hoser pride in yours truly and also means they might know your cousin. The trio’s take no prisoners approach to snarky sarcasm is something even jaded “pshaw-ers” can get behind. Most importantly, however, their creativity is a force to be reckoned with. Witness the killer mash up of old Mastodon, the technical angularity of Botch and Converge, the crushing melodic thunder of Floor, Rising and Cavity and how they steep the entire mess in a piping hot cup of noise rock. Topping that off are the lengths they’ve gone to forego filming a traditional video for a single song from their latest release, The Mechanics of a Nightmare (out tomorrow!). Instead of shoe-horning a story line and imagery into three seizure-inducing minutes, they headed up to an abandoned sanatorium in Ninette, Manitoba and lensed an entire surrealistic horror film to accompany the record.
The band originally formed in 2010 as Terrorist and reportedly made a name change after the Winnipeg constabulary paid them a visit after spotting mail and merch orders sent to their homebase in envelopes emblazoned with “Terrorist HQ” (because the best way for terrorists trying to commit nefarious deeds away from the authorities’ view is to openly publicize themselves). A two-song EP was issued in 2016 before they bunkered down for a period of intensive writing and practicing in isolation with the result being The Mechanics of a Nightmare.
Today, we’re streaming that record and allowing you to experience it on different platforms. Feel free to strictly listen. If unsettling images of unsanitary medical conditions, psychological collapse, male nudity, sinister ritualism and witchy women freezing their nipples off during a Manitoba winter is more your thing, check it out with the visual accompaniment. And if you don’t mind a little NSFW (or you’re in a position to not worry about NSFW because the pandemic has kibosh-ed your work schedule) and ads for cam gals, why not check it out via the band’s PornHub page?
Here are guitarist/vocalist Jordan Michael’s thoughts on their creation:
“The Mechanics of a Nightmare is a bizarre descent into decadence and self-annihilation. It moves between manic fits of rage and spaced out exhaustion. It is the panic attack before the benzos take effect and the uneasy sleep that follows. We wrote this during a period of overwhelming personal upheaval; a time when I think all of us in one way or another were exhausted with ourselves, with the culture and with life. This record looks into that abyss and we don’t really care whether or not it looks back.”
Contact links below.
