There are few bands in the heavy music sphere that have experienced the rise that thrown have over the last few years. Coming straight outta Stockholm, their brand of short, sharp and savage hardcore has caught the attention of everyone from Fit For A King and Spite to August Burns Red and Wage War . Dishing out razor-sharp riffs with an addictively despondent outlook, they have grown from word of mouth sensations to one of the most celebrated new bands in the scene.
And with their debut album ‘Excessive Guilt’, it feels like they are about to make the next big step towards legendary status. Bold, brazen and bristling with aggression and attitude, it is a blink-and-miss-it shot to the temple that will leave you reeling and ready for more. To find out a bit more about their path to this pivotal point, Rock Sound caught up with vocalist Marcus Lundqvist and guitarist Johan Liljeblad.
.. ROCK SOUND: When you consider what this journey has been like up until now, how does it feel to look back over what you have been able to carve out with the band? MARCUS: “Right from the get-go, this project was definitely ambitious.
When we started it, the goal was always to get out and tour and play as many shows as possible that were as big as possible. We’re definitely feeling proud and more inspired than ever right now. We believed in this from the first songs that we released, but we really couldn’t have asked for more with the great response they got.
It was everything we hoped for, because we knew that whatever we do from now, people will care. The hardest part is putting your heart and soul into something, and then nothing happening. It was really inspiring to then be able to speed run those first few steps.
We were never a typical local band where we had to do that awkward grind.” RS: To be able to learn as you go is a gift in itself. The jump you took meant that there wasn’t any time to mess about.
You were all in...
MARCUS: “Exactly. And it didn’t have to be about the shows we were then playing being big. Being an opener at a smaller show but knowing that people are there on time because they want to see you.
That feels really nice.” RS: The thing that those people connected with was not just the songs you were making but the attitude you were putting out into the world. It’s a case of you creating something you hadn’t previously seen exist within heavy music, so putting your stamp on it from the get-go means that people are responding to that new feeling alongside you.
.. MARCUS: “Yeah, for sure.
We knew that if the songs were to do well, we needed to start grinding as soon as possible. It was about taking the opportunities presented to us and seeing what doors they might open. We were all on the same wavelength when it came to making those decisions.
We all aim to push this project and see how crazy it can get.” RS: What do you feel the time on the road and the variety of bands you have been able to play with has taught you as you prepared to get to where you are now with this debut album? MARCUS: “One thing that you learn from playing your songs live is that you see what gets the crowd going. A song may stream better than another, but it’s even better to see what parts of a song have the most significant impact when you play it.
Also, you discover what is fun to play for yourselves as well. When we write a song, we definitely discuss whether we think it is going to hit live as well. If the crowd is good, that’s 50% of what having a good show is about.
You can’t play a bad show if the crowd in front of you is amazing. That’s something we are constantly discussing and take into consideration a lot of the time when we are writing new shit. Not only should it be a good song that works live, but it should also work within the whole dynamic of the rest of the songs we have.
We don’t have to reinvent ourselves, but we try experimenting and getting as creative as possible. It’s about writing songs that, if we were standing in the crowd, we would also enjoy hearing.” RS: If you wouldn’t mosh to your own band, then you’re on the wrong path.
.. MARCUS: “Exactly and knowing that it’s a good song for you even if it doesn’t always resonate the way you thought it might.
If the crowd doesn’t get it now, then they will get it later.” RS: thrown as an entity hasn’t really stopped, so much that the fact you found time to be in the studio to create an album is pretty astonishing. With that in mind, when did ‘Excessive Guilt’ come to the forefront and become a focus? JOHAN: “We were actually planning to release an EP at first.
So, we had a few songs ready to go, but then we decided to extend it into a full-length and wrote even more songs.” MARCUS: “We’re always writing, so songs started adding up, and all of a sudden, what we had really started to feel like an album. We were saying, ‘This song feels like an album opener’ or ‘This feels like it could be the last song on an album’.
It all started to make sense as soon as we felt like we had enough dynamic to extend past five or six songs. It also didn’t hurt that every other comment that we were getting from fans was saying, ‘When are you going to be releasing an album’. So that definitely helped.
” RS: It’s interesting you mention dynamic, because thrown is as much about the atmosphere as it is about the heaviness. It’s a vibe you have created from the ground up, which you are still very much in charge of creating. What were the elements that were pulling these particular songs together? MARCUS: “I know we always talked about how the album should feel like a sequel to ‘Extended Pain’.
Not completely conceptually, but if we were listening to thrown, how would we want to see the band and the sound develop? So, we have just been trying to do what we did on that EP, but do it better. Still trying to add new things that make sense and don’t feel too out of place for us. At the end of the day, all we are trying to do is write good songs.
But obviously, we want it to be made from our recipe.” JOHAN: “We have kept it simple in many ways but also tried to incorporate new elements.” MARCUS: “Sometimes, we will write a whole song in one go; sometimes, we just write a section we don’t always know what to do with.
Being open to new things and moving things around is a puzzle we are always trying to solve. I don’t know if other bands think of things like that, but that is how we have always seen what we do.” RS: What is the biggest lesson you have picked up from trying to piece together that puzzle? What have you found that is going to become a part of your process for everything you do in the future? MARCUS: “That definitely makes us think.
In terms of us being together as a crew, everyone feels like a solid unit. Having that sort of energy around us adds so much more confidence to what we are doing. With each song that we write, and then that we discuss as a unit, adds more and more to what thrown is.
It’s a case of mastering our craft. Not being afraid of tweaking or changing things. This has always been about having the same goal of making this band reach its full potential.
That’s something I feel like we are continuing to get better at. Better at discussing details.” JOHAN: “And being more picky with the stuff that we do as well.
” MARCUS: “Picky but confident in those decisions. Picky, but not in an anxious way like, ‘Is this good enough?’ More in terms of developing a work ethic, where we will take our time. Let’s all listen to these songs so much until we lose our minds, but also know that by doing that, another idea will appear and make it even better.
” JOHAN: “That has happened quite often, too. Like a few months will have gone by, and we will think, ‘Fuck, that would have sounded so good like this’.” MARCUS: “That’s actually why all of this has taken so much time.
” RS: If you want to be able to realise the ambition you have, you need to put it into practice. You need to back yourselves but also be hard on yourselves as well. You need to be able to say when more is needed.
You can tell there is a big love for hip-hop within the band, and finding the right way to show that off is just one challenge you have to set yourself...
MARCUS: “Absolutely. We fully trust each other’s opinions, tastes and criticisms. That’s the thing that when you try things out, and you know it’s good, you’re confident enough to express that.
When it comes to thrown’s music, we all want the same emotion and to find a way to express it in the same way.” RS: What does it mean to have the band in the place where it is now such a huge part of your lives? JOHAN: “It’s everything. We have wanted to do this forever at this point.
The fact that we can do it and do it in the way that we wish to after such a short period of time is fucking mind-blowing. It means the world to me.” MARCUS: “I feel the same.
The best feeling is hoping for something and then not getting disappointed that it hasn’t happened. The mix of joy and relief that we feel is so special, and it makes us feel so much stronger as we look to what might come up next.”.
