Thronehammer - Incantation Rites

Würzburg, Saturday, 16 November 2019: The second day of the Hammer of Doom festival was about to begin. I was still a little tired from the previous day when I went to the Posthalle, it's 1 p.m. What awaited me there completely blew me away: On stage, Thronehammer, who were completely unknown to me until then, were waltzing everything into the ground. I hadn't experienced such live force in a long time – only Sulphur Aeon could keep up with them.

This experience sparked my love for the band and their charismatic frontwoman Kat, whose versatile voice is responsible for numerous goosebump moments. The fact that Thronehammer play decidedly anti-fascist “ultra-doom“, meaning they take a clear political stand, strengthens my bond with them.

Regardless of this, their previous three studio albums are all impressive enough to be mentioned in this special. However, I decided without hesitation to choose their outstanding second album Incantation Rites from 2021. The band manages to make a playing time of over 75 minutes fly by here – every second is essential and captivating.

My favourite piece will forever be the epic, 14-minute title track, but “Thy Blood“, “Eternal Thralldom“ and “A Fading King“ are also precious gifts for any music fan who is into doom metal, sludge and even extreme metal.

Thronehammer always manage to create an enormously intense, almost hypnotic atmosphere on all their releases that you can't escape. Furthermore, they are one of those artists who really have a unique sound that is instantly recognisable. In view of the flood of releases these days, this is more than an remarkable achievement. In this respect, Incantation Rites is a proud representative of the “younger generation“ in this special, which can hold its own with immortal milestones of music history with art that truly has something to say.

Note: As part of this special, I am posting my 100 favorite records. Full-length albums, compilations and EPs are all included. Live albums will be considered in another special. The first 75 records will be posted in no particular order. The top 25 will be ranked.