IDOL THRONE
“A Clarion Call”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

9/10

Idol Throne are a power/thrash metal band from the USA formed in 2018 releasing their debut album ‘The Sibylline Age’ in 2022, and sophomore album ‘A Clarion Call’ in 2024.

Released via Stormspell Records the album features eight new thrashy, power come traditional heavy metal anthems! The band are fairly ferocious across fifty fast paced minutes of foot to the floor metal – the seven and a half minute (album opener) ‘Ecliptykon’ launching ‘A Clarion Call’ skyward at a tremendous rate of knots! The band are quickly outta the blocks, powering down the highway at full throttle as ‘Ecliptykon’ batters everyone out of the way with an aggression fuelled barrage of thrash come power metal! An immediate and head turning start to ‘A Clarion Call’, Idol Throne march on with the equally thrashy ‘Covenant Of The Immortal’. Full of pace, ‘Covenant Of The Immortal’ is a head banger straight off the top shelf, the worldwide mosh pits turning into a frenzied firestorm of head banging maniacs! The (albums) opening brace has been nothing short of sensational, the band hooking listeners straightaway and never letting go!

And to be honest, with the metal this fucking good, if the band did let me go, I wouldn’t go anywhere – ’cause I want more! Lots more! And more I get too – ‘King Among Jackals’ entering the fray with a more melodious attitude than either of the two previous songs – and at eight and a half minutes in length, it’s also the longest song on offer! The band are majestic here too, showing a level of elegance that you’d get from legendary bands such as Iron Maiden and Saxon, ‘King Among Mortals’ echoing an anthemic swagger mixed with a mighty old school feel – think ‘Maiden’s ‘Powerslave’ (1984) or Saxon’s ‘Crusader’ (1984), and you’ll be somewhere near the sound of ‘King Among Jackals’! And from the (albums) longest song to the shortest – ‘Petrified’ a four and a half minute thunderstorm of all out thrash! The pace and power here is phenomenal, Idol Throne standing firmly and squarely in thrash metal territory – well, when I say standing, I actually mean standing with one “foot on the monitor” to adopt the iconic pose of heavy metal! The five piece outfit from Indiana are metal through and through – and it shows! Big time! The band keep the hammer down, powering on with passion and pride, ‘The Last Voyage’ oozing pace and power in abundance, ‘A Clarion Call’ at its fastest right now! The head bang ability of the album so far has been incredible, every metalhead everywhere vigorously rocking their head back and forth.

The title song ‘A Clarion Call’, takes the album in the direction of melodic heavy metal, Idol Throne maintaining their stance right in the heart of metal territory – occasionally stepping over the border walls into thrash and power metal country. But with ‘A Clarion Call’ (the song), the band even bring hard rock to the fore, melding together two of the greatest musical genres in the world. So come on all you rockers, join us metallers in listening to ‘A Clarion Call’ (the song) – you won’t be disappointed! And with its short, eerie intro, ‘System Simulacrum’ lands us listeners back into the heart of heavy metal, Idol Throne standing tall and proud on the bridge between traditional metal and thrash! The band are at their most aggressive here, a little ferocious too, ‘System Simulacrum’ hitting harder than all of the songs heard so far! Imagine the likes of Megadeth, Testament and Rage all coming together – that’s the exact sound pouring out of ‘System Simulacrum’! And bringing the album to a close, Idol Throne move to another plane completely, ‘Falconer’s Cry’ opening in a more mellow fashion than any other song on offer – the band leading the listener on a journey into fantasy sounding metal! For the first two minutes anyway, ’cause the bands heavy metal roots shine through strongly as ‘Falconer’s Cry’ picks up the pace and power, thundering on with an intense feel and vibe! And it’s an instrumental too – one of those glorious instrumentals that holds your attention right from the start until the very last second! What a wonderful finish to a wonderful album!

Overall, fifty minutes of full on intensity and head bang ability, ‘A Clarion Call’ is loaded with thoroughly enjoyable heavy metal.

TRACKLIST

Ecliptykon
Covenant Of The Immortal
King Among Jackals
Petrified
The Last Voyage
A Clarion Call
System Simulacrum
Falconer’s Cry

https://idolthrone.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/idolthrone
http://www.stormspell.com/

This review is the property of Iron Mathew, Frenzy Fire and Metal Gods TV. It is strictly prohibited to copy any part of this review, unless you have both of the parties’ permission, or are the band/record label/PR company in question. Failure to adhere to these instructions will be considered as Plagiarism and you will be reported to the appropriate authorities

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