Artist: Hammerthrone
Country: USA
Label: Self-Released
Formats: Digital Demo
Year: 2026
Hammerthrone is a new band that emerged from the ideas of a few like-minded musicians from Austin, Texas, USA, who are also active in other bands playing different musical styles. This has indeed little to do with Stoner or Sludge; on ‘Hammerthrone’, they say they focus on Death Metal with a penchant for the Swedish variety.
In just under 20 minutes we are presented in with a couple of tracks that indeed have a slight echo of the Swedish kind of Death Metal, but it definitely isn’t full-on HM2 buzzsawing madness. In fact, ‘Hammerthrone’ sounds rather meek, as if they are ashamed of playing something else than their usual kind of music. Whatever the case, the tracks sound very similar, and as a result the demo drags on without any real highlights. That’s not to say it’s necessarily bad in the strictest sense of the word, but I’m glad they didn’t stretch it out any further than these 17 minutes. Most of it is mid-tempo and seems to revolve around one and the same riff and the same rhythms. Now, that’s perhaps not surprising, given that’s pretty much the most distinctive characteristic of both Stoner and Sludge. It might work there, though I don’t like it; here, the whole thing boils down to a rather dull affair lacking fire or passion. The few moments when the tempo picks up slightly keep the whole thing just above water, but it’s all rather lacklustre. It does, however, fit in well with the current trend of soulless Death Metal that isn’t really worthy of the genre’s name.
