Throwdown

‘Venom and Tears’ is the 2007 album release from the straight-edge metalcore band that is Throwdown. The album consists of 13 tracks and this provides for 49 minutes of music. This is the fifth studio album from the California based band and does I feel provide for quite an interesting overall listening experience. The tracks all sound fairly similar, it’s quite a well put together album of music however and those that like a good bit of thrash metal should definitely appreciate this album from the band.

The guitar work is excellent here, the vocals also are very well put across in the bands sound and the combination play of vocals and instrumental element works incredibly well. There are some powerful guitar riffs put across in the bands sound, the drum work also is frantically paced and this therefore provides for a hugely entertaining listening experience. The music is always heavy, and with every passing track the band shows itself to be incredibly instrumentally proficient.

The fact that all the tracks sound incredibly similar here does I feel detract away from the overall quality of the album, ‘Venom and Tears’ is by no means a bad album but a little bit of variation would certainly not go amiss. From first track ‘Holy Roller’ right through to penultimate anthem ‘Godspeed’ there is really no telling the tracks apart, all the tracks seem to blend together as one as you listen to this album and this is a definite area of improvement for the band to focus on.

The final track on this album is actually a cover of the Sepultura track ‘Propaganda’, this therefore provides for a little bit of variation on the album; not much however. Throwdown very much make this track their own, you can tell it’s a cover in that it sounds a little different from the rest of the album; Throwdown have certainly put their own individual spin on this track though and it therefore comes across extremely well as the closing track of this ‘Venom and Tears’ album. The powerful guitars are present as ever and the vocals also are incredibly well shouted out by the band here, there are some super drum fills and this ‘Propaganda’ closing track certainly provides this album with a fine finale.

‘Venom and Tears’ is certainly not the best album to have been released in the genre of thrash metal, it’s not even the best album that Throwdown has ever released actually; it’s worth a listen though, particularly if thrash metal is your favourite style of sound. The bands roots are very much in the hardcore scene, over the years a more metal direction has been taken by the band however and here the music of Throwdown is even more metal than ever. The album possesses elements of metalcore, for the most part however its a pure blend of thrash and groove metal which is well done by the band albeit fairly unspectacularly. The tracks all sound incredibly similar here, this therefore holds back the overall quality of the album; if you can get over the fact that all the tracks sound pretty much the same though then plenty of enjoyment can be gained from listening to this ‘Venom and Tears’ album from Throwdown.

Label: Trustkill Records
Release Date: September 10th 2007

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