INTERVIEW: Bryce Kresge – Throes

In the current landscape of extreme music – it’s relatively difficult to come across a band who remain unique in comparison to their peers, THROES are one of them. Their brand of metallic hardcore is as dark as it is deep, summed up by the bands debut, carnivorous record In The Hands Of An Angry God. More than just another outfit to add to the ever growing talent in alternative music though, this quintet have conjured up a scarring record that speaks to the intriguing journey the band have been on, and potentially where the band could head next. We caught up with bassist Bryce Kresge to find out how the band came to fruition, what comes next, their influences, and more.

For fans who aren’t familiar – what’s the bands backstory? How did you guys come together to be a band?

Bryce: 4/5 of THROES were previously in a band together, BONE DANCE. When that band broke up, the singer of BONE DANCE, Morgan, decided he wanted to play drums in a band again. He reached out to me, we worked on a few rough ideas, brought guitarists Phil and Kasey back into the fold, and recruited Tyler to handle vocals. Pretty typical story.

Your last release was more than three years ago, was there any concern that the spark might have been gone by the time you got back in the studio?

Bryce: No, absolutely not. It’s not as if we only write songs when there is studio time booked. After we released To Dust we immediately started fleshing out new material. We were writing and working and refining songs up until the day we packed up and left to go track them.

Holy Roar only announced they had signed the band on the 22nd of May, how did that deal come to fruition?

Bryce: Alex from Holy Roar and I had been in contact years ago while BONE DANCE and PARISO were planning a European tour that never came into fruition. Holy Roar has been on my radar for quite a long time as well, I actually own a copy of their second-ever release, the KAYO DOT/BLOODY PANDA split LP. I can’t say if Alex remembers this, more than likely not, but we met in-person briefly at a music festival in Indianapolis way back in 2008. Anyways, after we had finished mixing, I sent him a private link to check out these songs and see what he thought. He came right back with an interest in putting the record out. We all felt good about moving ahead with a relationship with Holy Roar, so here we are.

With no record label per say to oversee the recording of your new album, were there any really difficult decisions you had to make where you wished you had someone above you to advise you?

Bryce: I hope no artist is ever in a position where somebody “above them” is calling any shots as to how they create art. The most we ever had was working with a recording engineer who would provide useful advice about drum sounds or guitar tone, things like that. Having a person there who is hearing the songs for the first time can be useful in catching mistakes in playing, tempo shifts, or things like that. Technical issues. But we’d never want anyone to dictate what we do when it comes to the songs themselves.

In The Hands Of An Angry God is one of the coolest album titles we’ve ever heard, where did your inspiration for coming up with this title stem from?

Bryce: Its origin comes from the title of a sermon delivered by a theologian in the early 1700s. I considered the phrase outside of a religious context, where God is a stand-in term for the invisible forces in your life that are outside of your control. The machinations of societal institutions that affect us all, or the lot in life that you find yourself in, be it poverty, oppression, racism, war, famine, etc.

You’ve got a really unique sound – what kinds of bands or influences in general does the band have?

Bryce: We listen to a big variety of stuff. I think some bigger more apparent influences might be bands in the vein of NEUROSIS, bands that create really huge sounding records with massive riffs, but also more angular bands like COALESCE. I like to think that we consider the emotion or feeling that a song has a lot more than recalling any specific bands or sounds when we’re writing.

Holy Roar’s recent track record is amazing for uncovering new bands, how do you feel you compare to other bands on their roster and do you feel more pressurised to deliver now you’re a part of them?

Bryce: I don’t want to compare ourselves to any other bands, Holy Roar has such a unique roster of bands that I think everything they’ve released offers something unique and different. That said, I think the last CONJURER record is incredible. As far as feeling pressure to deliver, I don’t feel any pressure other than the pressure we put on ourselves to continue writing better and better music.

This is THROES’ first full length record, what’s the biggest lesson you’ve taken away from it?

Bryce: Quite a few lessons were learned. Be willing to take risks, and be confident about your choices. Spend a lot of time rehearsing before you set foot in the studio. Play to a metronome and figure out the bpm you want your songs to be played at. Take your time refining guitar tones. The approach you take to the mixing process, and how effectively you can communicate what you want to an engineer, is absolutely vital.

The lyrics and overall sound for the album are incredibly dark, was this an intentional depiction of the bands mantra?

Bryce: I think it just comes naturally to us. It’s what we like to play, it’s how we want to sound, and that’s an aspect of our worldview that comes through. You can’t write lyrics about sunshine and rainbows and expect it to work with music that sounds like ours. Technically you could, but you’d look like an idiot.

Has their been discussions yet about how long you would leave it until you get back in the studio again?

Bryce: At this point, no. Right at the same time that Holy Roar announced our album’s release, we’ve been without a steady rehearsal space, so getting back to work has been difficult these last few months. When we finished tracking the record in August of 2018, we were back to the drawing board and working on fresh song ideas. That’s typically what our twice-weekly rehearsals consist of – toying with new ideas. We’ll be back in the studio as soon as we feel we have a collection of songs that we’re all proud of and are worth people’s time. I hope that’s sooner rather than later.

In The Hands Of An Angry God is out now via Holy Roar Records.

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