Throwdown

Bonded By Blood

Considering how much they have common, it's kinda strange that metal and hardcore haven't fostered closer relationships. It's only the opposing doctrines of punk and heavy metal that have kept the two seemingly natural bedfellows apart. Sure, there have been nods towards a crossover, in the mid-1980s when acts like DRI, Cro-Mags, Circle Jerks and Suicidal Tendencies began turning up in metal 'zines. Even the notorious Stormtroopers of Death made gestures in both directions.

Later, in the mid 1990s, numerous acts on the American Roadrunner label played a form of metal that severely trimmed the fat off the genre. Such mundane trappings as interminable soloing, falsetto screaming, and homoerotic imagery were dispensed with in favour of a bludgeoning heaviness by the likes of Biohazard and Sepultura, whose 1996 Roots album profoundly moved metal forward.

In the last few years the line between metal and hardcore has blurred, introducing a host of aggressive acts that have breathed new life into forward thinking head banging communities. Hatebreed, Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage, Shadows Fall, and Throwdown are just a few of this emerging legion. The latter hail from that recent soap kingdom, California's Orange County, a privileged area you wouldn't think capable of breeding such antagonism.

But the Throwdown boys are actually pretty well adjusted, young, straight (edge) living, and intensely committed to their music. This has seen the five piece move forward from the bitter lyrics of 2003's Haymaker, to a more positive outlook on the recent Vendetta. That doesn't mean they've mellowed any, as the title track suggests - "This is war. This is pure hostility. This is vengeance. This is all that's driving me. This is a Vendetta." But these lyrics seem more of a nod towards their heroes in Sepultura, Hatebreed and Pantera than the harbouring of any real disaffection with society.

As bassist Dom Macaluso explains, vocalist Dave Peters outlook has altered since Haymaker. "All his lyrics are based on first hand experiences from life. Although there's a bit of animosity and anger on that record, I think he's been able to vent a lot of that, and in the course of this new record been able to mature and branch out, and sing about things with more substance. We're all really happy about the musical and lyrical progression."

Part of this progression came about because of line up changes, along with experiences like touring internationally, and as part of major packages such as OzzFest. "Before we were more of a hobby band and we would do tours in between work and in between college," elaborates Macaluso. "We just wanted to establish that for our private lives, and once we'd done that we went out and did the band fulltime. It's been a real rewarding time over the last year doing this."

Vendetta was started in January this year, only a week or so after Throwdown had returned from a tour of the UK. They wrote at home in Huntington Beach (also the home of such luminaries as Pennywise) throughout that month before heading East to Hadleigh, Massachusetts. Here they hooked up with producer Zeuss, a man that Macaluso only has good things to say about. "In the past we had a handful of bad experiences as far as recording engineers being flaky, and wanting to record on their time and their schedule. Zeuss was exactly the opposite, he was very business minded and worked day in day out to help us create a really great record. And he had a lot of creativity, he knows the kind of music we're going for, especially (having worked) with Shadows Fall and Hatebreed and bands like that, he had a good idea of what we were trying to do."

Having inked a deal with Roadrunner Records since Haymaker, Throwdown are now enjoying an increased audience, something they first noticed while on that UK tour late last year. A benefit of their expanded profile is the ability to tour in such exotic locations as Japan, and of course New Zealand. The band has now made two trips down here, and it seems they'd be keen for more. "Oh yeah, by all means," enthuses Macaluso. "It's kind of ridiculous that we can go to a place as beautiful as New Zealand, and essentially have the trip paid for. And it's a great feeling also to be on the other side of the world, be it Europe or Japan, and seeing kids that actually know our lyrics, and we're bonding with them on that level."


Gavin Bertram.