Throwdown: Intolerance

For The Fan Presents:

Throwdown “Intolerance” (2014) Review

In the past Throwdown were darlings of straightedge hardcore with metallic riffs. However, around the time Eighteen Visions and other bands on the Trustkill Records label started getting famous, they altered their style to be more “commercial” friendly. Don’t get me wrong, this doesn’t mean they got a lot of radio play, but the sound was less militant, and more strategic in the hardcore bounty that they were trying to get a shot at. If you heard one Hatebreed record, for instance, than you know what the shift in sound was likened to. For years, I didn’t like the releases, and out of the blue, they come out with a record that returns to form and still rocks heavy, with “Intolerance”.


People call them groove metal, but they are no Pantera, they are something altogether different. With the release of this record, they found a way to fuse their previous style of hardcore with that groove all the journalist kept citing them for, and it shows. From the opening track of “Fight or Die” they seem to be in a whole new world of metallic hardcore.

Tracks that stand out include the aforementioned as well as, “Borrowed Time”, “Avow”, “Hardened by Consequence”, and “Cut Away”. The band really brings out everything they have and just floors the recording with noise and guttural screams. There are break downs, metal riffs, and incredible percussion as well, making this release one of the best metallic hardcore albums that has been released thus far in 2014.

The major downside to this record, in my view is the length. It’s shorter than their earlier releases, and it’s definitely on the hardcore side. It blows through a lot of music, a lot of lyrics, and breakdowns without wasting a moment. That’s not a huge negative approach, as some of the best records in hardcore have been short. From No Innocent Victim, Madball, and even Hatebreed, length doesn’t always mean great recordings. Throwdown delivers here, but it’s not necessarily their best work. You’ll definitely find that classic sound somewhere in the mix, but it’s far from that balancing act that they had at the helm of the Trustkill Records heyday.

Pros:Great production, heavy, groove metal comes back (RIP Pantera)

Cons: Short, lacking that early metalcore sound

Links:

Mp3 download: http://amzn.to/1gzRzWG

Compact disc: http://amzn.to/1fhbGUj