THROAT “Licked Inch Fur”

Man, the Finns just know how to do ugly music right. Be it tumultuous Noise and Power Electronics, militant Satanic Black metal or sewer level Sludge, they seem to just have harsh sound encoded in their collective DNA.
Throat manifest that cold northern cacophony into a finely honed form of noise rock that has its’ roots in the damaged sounds of the 90s US underground, but is still planted firmly in the sonic miasma of their home country.

With a demo and a 7 to their name so far, Throat are still pretty much an unknown quantity to many, but hopefully the newly released “Licked Inch Fur” 12″ will go some way to changing that. Four raucous, headfucking songs of primo grade sludged out pummel that immediately put me in mind of the old AmRep and early Bovine records sound. Downtuned, gritty guitars, yelled vocals, and a super tight rhythym section that kicks like the proverbial mule.

Four songs here from these guys, and they don’t fuck around for one second. Straight from the off “Stampede” lives up to the title, with an insistent, grinding riff and (chock, horror) something remotely approaching a catchy chorus. It’s a short sharp blow to the head. Following that the slow burning dirge of “Wake Down” crawls along in a way that’s maybe less visceral, but twice as menacing.

That slow n’low menacing vibe continues onto side two with “Piggie” coming on like a hungover Unsane. Another slow burner til it jacks up the pace and intensity half way through and throbs along like the worst migraine ever. Jukka’s pained vocals add to the whole bad vibe perfectly. Closer “Poolpisser” brings things to a grinding halt with more brutal riffing over that clinically precise drum and bass duo, adding extra noise and feedback towards the end to completely destroy what’s left of your hearing.

There aren’t too many bands doing this style nowadays, and even less doing it this well. With this being a good old fashioned DIY style four-way label release you should have minimum difficulty picking it up, so hit up Kaos Kontrol, At War With False Noise,Made In Kansas or Verdura for a copy and get into one of the best new bands in Europe in years.