
Four for victory!
-- Thorium --
01/10/2018
Stijn Daneels

Album genres:
■ | Power metal |
■ | heavy metal |
Album artists:
■ | David Marcelis | Vocals |
■ | Tom Tee | Guitars |
■ | Dario Frodo | Guitars |
■ | Kurk "Stripe" Lawless | Bass |
■ | Louis Van der Linden | Drums |
[METAL SHREDDER REPORTING]
I first
heard of Thorium from my buddies at Hard Life Promotion as well through the
band members themselves. I’ve known Dario, Stripe and Tom from back in their
Ostrogoth days so I was very curious to hear what they were up to when I had read
the news that this fabulous trio were forging their own creative paths. So here
we are, Thorium’s much awaited first set of material has arrived! Let’s check
it out!
[THE SHREDDING BASICS]
The eponymous
debut album from the Belgian heavy metal band Thorium is released through
Belgian record label Empire Records. As I mentioned earlier, Thorium is the new
project from ex-Ostrogoth band members Dario Frodo, Kurk “Stripe” Lawless and
Tom Tee and their experiences and influences from Ostrogoth are clearly heard
throughout their self-titled album. Similar to Ostrogoth, Thorium plays a
classic heavy metal sound inspired by NWOBHM as well as power, progressive and
speed metal. If you like Ostrogoth then you’ll surely enjoy this band just as
much! The guys play with a finesse, energy and tightness up to par with their
iconic former band. Dario and Tom unleash some truly epic guitar solos,
vocalist David has a vocal range comparable to Ostrogoth’s current singer Josey
Hindrix and combined with the hard-hitting drum and bass beats you end up with
a real sonic rollercoaster! Thorium is at times gentle and soft-spoken and at
other times full of bombastic fury! It’s a damn good ride!
[THE SHREDDING VISION AND THEMES]
Thorium
pays a lot of homage to Ostrogoth with similar themes like warfare, history,
and a song dedicated to the historic Ostrogoth tribe itself! Hell, there even
is a song called Return To The Clouds which serves as a spiritual sequel to the
song Clouds from Ostrogoth’s 2015 EP Last Tribe Standing, with a similar
opening melody and pacing. As for the cover art, well, I’ve got a few things to
say about that. Rather blunt things, actually, coming up in a minute, but first
the good stuff…
[THE SHARPEST SHREDS AND THE BLUNTEST BLADES]
I have
several favorites on Thorium’s debut such as the catchy and highly motivational
fourth track called Godspeed and the adrenaline-pumping penultimate song Return
to The Clouds! But my top pick goes to the 15-minute finale by the name of Four
By Number, Four By Fate! A track reminiscent of the classic Iron Maiden epics like
Rime Of The Ancient Mariner, Alexander The Great and Seventh Son Of A Seventh
Son! A song filled with a plethora of different tunes and atmospheres, wherein acoustic
guitar, galloping bass lines (hi, Maiden!), soaring vocals and guitar riffs and
thrash metal inspired sections take turns in giving you one last, full taste of
Thorium’s power before leaving you begging for more!
As for the
album’s main weakness, although there isn’t a particular track that I would
consider to be vastly inferior compared to the others on the album, I do give
the “honor” to the album’s cover art! Thorium’s logo has a nice metallic look (again,
the 1980s) but the background is just a shroud of white and grey clouds and
looks way too generic for me! In fact, since the album pays such a big tribute
to Ostrogoth, I would have loved seeing the front cover depicting the city of
Paris by night with a gigantic full moon and a huge scorpion on top of the
Eiffel Tower! Yup, if you know your Ostrogoth lore, then you’re fully aware of
what famous Ostrogoth songs I’ve just referred to! In any case, this is just a
minor thing, and this Thorium debut rightfully deserves…
[THE SHREDDER’S SCORECARD]
9 full
moon’s eyes out of 10! An impressive first release from a young ensemble of
highly experienced musicians who are definitely delivering the goods here!
Thorium is a band and album that I can warmly recommend to any fun-loving rock-
or metalhead out there! Ostrogoth may not be releasing any new material anytime
soon, but their “offspring” by the name of Thorium is sure to give you one hell
of a rock fever! Here's Godseed!