Converging Parallel Worlds

In my musings about new metal releases, I reserve a special category for albums that pleasantly surprised me with how much I enjoyed them, particularly those from bands I had not encountered before. Currently topping this special category is Throne of Thorns’s debut album, Converging Parallel Worlds. Hailing from Belgium, the band are comprised of experienced musicians from the local metal scene, brought together in this new project by Throne of Thorns’s mastermind, Thomas Jethro Verleye, who plays all guitars and bass on the album and is responsible for all songwriting, arrangements and lyrics. The other band members are Josey Hindrix (from Ostrogoth) on vocals, Baruch van Bellegem (Satyrus) on drums and Wim Rotthier (ex-Crusader) on keyboards. Producer Guy Vercruysse (from metalcore band Reject the Sickness) also played an important role in the album, as he provided backing vocals and co-wrote the album vocal lines with Verleye and Hindrix. Vercruysse also mixed the album, while Jacob Hansen mastered it.

Throne of Thorns play an enjoyable fusion of metal styles that encompasses a wide array of aesthetics, from the dark brand of progressive power metal in vogue in the late 1990s (think of bands like Angel Dust or Stygma IV), to classic heavy metal from the 1980s (Judas Priest), to symphonic power metal (Blind Guardian, in particular). The German bards are a particularly tangible influence when it comes to the way the songs develop – often piecing together a large number of small sections that change unexpectedly – yet always skillfully and smoothly – within a song. This complex approach to songwriting is reflected in the songs’ duration, that often exceeds the 6-minte mark, and in the nuanced and well-crafted song structures, which are centered on memorable refrains but allow ample room for exploration, delving into lengthy instrumental passages and bridges.

The arrangements are equally rich and complex, building on a formidable foundation of guitar leads and riffs, often layered to form two-part harmonies that go back to the very roots of heavy metal. There are plenty of solos too, often of excellent quality (“Black Diamond”) showcasing Verleye’s exceptional skills at the instrument. On top of the rich guitar texture, Verleye lays some lush orchestral arrangements, adding yet another harmonic layer to the music. Rhythmically the songs are equally intricate, with frequent changes of tempo that can at times be quite daring (“Atomic Retribution”, “Converging Parallel Worlds”, “Fire and Ice”), yet always flow seamlessly, never feeling forced.

The masterstroke is to maintain the music accessible and engaging, despite its complexity – which is what Throne of Thorns really excels at (and what brought to mind comparisons with equally skilled songwriters such as Blind Guardian). Josey Hindrix’s passionate vocal delivery helps a lot in this respect. His delivery of the simple but effective melodies is pitch-perfect, combining grit and melodiousness in ways that fit perfectly the dark nature of the music. Also perfectly fitting the music is the way the vocals are produced: they are placed slightly toward the back of the mix, often behind the guitars, which adds a nice, vintage – and eerie – touch to the music.

The band’s potential is really impressive and it fully comes to fruition on many of the songs on the album. “Storm Maker”, “Black Diamond” and “Underworld” are exceptional pieces of music, lengthy and complex epics the first two, more direct an immediate the latter. Elsewhere, Throne of Thorns seem to slightly get lost in the maze of ideas they throw into the songwriting. Both “Atomic Retribution” and the title-track suffer somewhat from lack of direction, also because the melodies are not as compelling here as in the tracks mentioned earlier. Closing track “Fire and Ice” is also slightly meandering and trimming a couple of minutes from it would have probably enhanced its impact. The two instrumentals (“Rise” and “Throne of Thorns”) also fail to leave a strong mark and feel somewhat skippable. More generally, I also felt that the tracklist would have benefitted from the inclusion of a couple of songs with a different mood and atmosphere, perhaps a more stripped-down balladish piece to slow things down and give listeners a bit of respite from the sonic complexity present in most of the tracks.

Overall, while there's a slight inconsistency in quality across its eight song, Converging Parallel Worlds stood out from the dozens of releases in related genres I listened to this year. It feels fresh and exciting, revisiting familiar tropes but with a renewed verve and energy that I hadn’t found in quite some time in albums threading similar territories as this one. What makes me most excited about the band, though, is that I get a sense that Converging Parallel Worlds is just the tip of the iceberg for them, their potential yet to be fully realized – and it goes without saying that I will be waiting eagerly for their next steps in coming years.

Spectacular melodic metal debut albums are hard to come by these days, but with ‘Converging Parallel Worlds‘, Belgian newcomer Throne of Thorns has delivered just that. While it might help that Throne of Thorns consists of experienced musicians, the band is not a supergroup in the traditional sense of the word. Instead, ‘Converging Parallel Worlds’ is the brainchild of guitarist Thomas Jethro Verleye, who then looked for the right people to record his music with him. The result is a bombastic album that despite its epic nature never loses track of memorable songwriting. If you like melodic metal of any kind, you owe it to yourself to hear this.

Throne of Thorns’ primary inspirations appear to be the adventurous songwriting of mid-eighties progressive metal and the huge melodic hooks of contemporary power metal. But the band is not a perfect fit for either of those descriptions. Musically, ‘Converging Parallel Worlds’ feels like a less flamboyant Crimson Glory mixed with the songwriting philosophy of mid-period Blind Guardian, though Verleye allows his musical ideas more time to unfold than either of those bands. Josey Hindrix’ vocals occasionally remind me of Mekong Delta’s Doug Lee, but with a stronger melodic focus. Combine that with Verleye’s expertise at creating wonderful guitar orchestrations and you have got a winner of an album.

First things first: I feel the two singles kind of misrepresent the album. They are understandable choices, as they are the most compact songs by a considerable margin – the others all exceed the eight-minute mark – and ‘Underworld’ is actually a gorgeous melodic metal song, but they don’t quite emphasize just how riff-driven ‘Converging Parallel Worlds’ is. Sure, every song has a chorus that opens up the song and leaves plenty of space for Hindrix’ vocals and layers upon layers of guitar harmonies. But there are also plenty of riffs which, helped by the powerful backbone of drummer Baruch van Bellegem, invite the listener to headbang along.

In fact, the first proper song ‘Storm Maker’ starts with a couple. One of them is actually quite thrashy, but the track quickly evolves into a dynamic track with many contrasting sections that go together surprisingly well. Ultimately, that is Throne of Thorns’ biggest strength. Verleye throws a lot of ideas into his songs, but as a listener, you never lose track of what’s going on. No track is more representative of this than closing track ‘Fire and Ice’, which I didn’t realize was over eleven minutes long until I checked. Other highlights include the title track, which really turns the intensity dial up with some awesome riffs, and the melodic majesty of ‘Black Diamond’.

As a jaded music journalist, it’s easy to put on my analytic glasses and judge an album merely on aspects that can somewhat objectively be described as good. Very few albums that I get to hear through my work for the music magazines resonate with me so viscerally as ‘Converging Parallel Worlds’ did. Some songs almost feel like they have been written specifically for me, but the truth is probably that Verleye’s musical preferences are fairly close to mine. The album really feels like someone’s been given the space to shape his musical vision and the results are nothing short of incredible.

Recommended tracks: ‘Converging Parallel Worlds’, ‘Black Diamond’, ‘Fire and Ice’, ‘Storm Maker’

Originally written for my Kevy Metal weblog