Marking their 10th stop on their headlining US tour, Sweden's own Thrown has been paving their way across the states, leaving packed venues stained with blood (literally), sweat, and rage. Signed to Arising Empire, the Swedish Nu-Metalcore outfit has been on a rampage as they build tension for their anticipated upcoming album, "UNWANTED," releasing November 6th, and every venue has become a stomping ground of both extended and excessive pain in their wake. The tour lineup built for this tour is a combination of metal's cornerstone genres of aggression, alongside the one and only 'almighty' Norma Jean, deathmetal/slam band BoltCutter, and Germany's own metalcore outfit Half Me.
On October 17th, Greensboro, North Carolina became the next proving ground for Thrown's purge through the states at Hangar 1819. Prior to doors opening, the line had started extending past the venue and into previous streets- a sea of black hoodies, patch-infused battle jackets, and adrenaline-primed eyes ready to take their fellow man into the very Earth for the bands they came to release their rage for. I fall into the last description; there's nothing more cathartic in this genre than showcasing your admiration for an artist by assaulting and being assaulted by your fellow concertgoers to your left and right as they play. By the time I stood there watching the last song go off, blood pouring down my face and into my throat and down my chin, staining my clothes, I felt like I witnessed the rapture: Everything inside was gone, and I had watched something greater than myself.
HALF ME
Photographed by MSM's Christy Peterson
Opening up the night was Hamburg, Germany's metalcore group, Half Me. Opening bands are the 'wake-up-call' to shows- introducing crowds of people to the loud, chaotic, and violent realm they're about to enter, exiting normal 9-5 work drone status, and flipping their settings to something else entirely. Being the first time hearing the band, I was amazed and quickly forgot that anything existed outside these four walls.
Half Me came out armed to the teeth: high-energy pounding drums (Maximilian Eisersdorff), a rumbling and chaotic bass (Tobias Max Sajons), and hefty-toned guitar (Christopher Hesse) rampaged into our eardrums from the very first second, as vocalist Christopher Zühlke thrashed around the stage telling us to feed him movement and violence. As I stood near the front of the crowd, I looked back and saw the room had been packed the fuck out. Endless bodies and heads, bobbing and weaving- it wasn't too long until the band tapped into the crowd's more unhinged wiring: the mosh pit. The band rips in with their track, "King", with each member on stage slamming their skulls up and down from the ground to the ceiling, and as they did, the room enlarged, and the open circle in the middle was filled with hardcore dancing, moshers, and built-up rage. The friend I had arrived with came for Norma Jean, but by the time the relentless breakdown on "Built On Your Blood" was bombarding us, he had disappeared. Looking over to find him, Half Me had converted him - he had joined the violent crowd of moshers in the center of the room. This band was a phenomenal new find for me- high energy from the gate, movement, and metalcore done right.
BoltCutter
Photographed by MSM's Christy Peterson
After hopping to the bar to slam another delicious Voodoo Ranger to my sweaty damn face, I went back to my position in the crowd to wait for the next band- before I, too, got fucking slammed instantly by moshers as soon as BoltCutter played their first literal damn note. Coming out of Eugene, Oregon, the band introduces death-metal-infused slam into the crowd. As I looked up from the murderous scene of what once was my can of hydration, I could tell that BoltCutter had a cult following with them. As soon as the first song popped off, hardcore dancing and two-steps took over most of the room with disgusting, dissonant chugs (Alex Hannon and Josh Klimoski), rapid-fire drums (Kameron Tyler), and an absolute unit of a vocalist (Tristen Storm) rampaging on stage.
Storm sports comical sunglasses while he walks up and down the stage, with vocals that are similar to, but not limited to: 2 bricks being rubbed together, a garbage disposal, a car crash consisting of only 1993 Dodge Rams (the ones with the 1st-gen Cummins in them that don't die), a garbage compactor, a garbage compactor filled with other garbage compactors, and tax evasion. Basically, it's fucking nasty.
The pit was filled with newcomers, and it grew in size with each track laid down. The band, formed in 2023, quickly gained a following for their brutal display of death metal, hip-hop and meme samples, and slam's guttural atmosphere. As the sample of "put it in reverse, Terry" plays, it's as hilariously and belligerently heavy as you can get with a band, with "GetFromRoundHere" consisting of no actual lyrics in its listed lyrics but rather a self-aware explanation that the music and group are as humbling and fun as they are relentless to see live. This was the first time both seeing and hearing BoltCutter, and from the cult following I witnessed come out of the woodwork from start to end, I can see why they're climbing the ladder up in the slam scene. They're fun, they're brutal, and they spare no man (or beer).
NORMA JEAN
Photographed by MSM's Christy Peterson
I trust if you're reading this, you won't need an introduction to these guys. If you do, it's unfortunate, but coming out next was 'the almighty' Norma Jean. The 2006 Grammy-nominated band has made a living since 1997 by being one of the most innovative and chaotic bands to roam the planet. Fans have claimed them to be in the realm of 'mathcore' and 'noise rock'- irregular time signatures, spazzy dissonant chords, with a fair mixture of metalcore-like riffs, (Jeff Hickey, Grayson Stewart, Clay Crenshaw) drumming (Matt Marquez), and abrasive harsh vocals (Cory Brandan). As they take the stage, my friend, Jordan Slaymaker, is unlike himself in the way I've ever known him. Jordan, being one of the biggest Norma Jean fans in the room, shoved his way to the front of the room- and I realized why.
Norma Jean has made the show up to this point into a different kind of show in its entirety. The mosh pits are not enough now: I feel a weight pressing on my shoulder and realize it's a damn foot. Crowd surfers have flooded the airspace, groups of them being carried throughout the crowd, while Norma Jean stomps, parades, and ransacks their stage. The energy I sensed at this moment wasn't even tangible; it was unearthly. As I pry myself out of the mosh pit to its outer rim for a breather, I quickly catch a glimpse up at the band before I finally see my friend, whom I lost at the start of the set- and he is flying ferociously from the very stage Norma Jean was on and into the crowd: towards my fucking direction. Helping lower him to the ground, I (again) attempted to calm myself to take in the band that has been a cornerstone of their own marked lane in the music world. As I do, the song closes, and we proceed with the famous "Memphis Will Be Laid To Waste", and I no longer see breathing necessary, but violence will do. The crowd has peaked, bodies hammering on one another, others flying through the air. An orchestra of pain. Norma Jean laid all of Greensboro to waste.
THROWN
Photographed by MSM's Christy Peterson
The show has reached such a pinnacle point, bodies have flown over the top of crowds, the pit is starting to draw blood, and the packed-out Greensboro venue on this Saturday night is filled with people waiting for their headliners: Thrown. The Swedish group quickly broke out as one of the most must-see aggressive acts since their 2019 formation, releasing a slew of singles for their upcoming second album, "UNWANTED." Punchy riffs fused with harmonics (Johan Liljeblad, Andreas Malm), ear hemorrhaging drums (Buster Odeholm), and signature wrath-filled vocals (Marcus Lundqvist). I bought tickets quickly when I saw they were coming to my area, and I wanted nothing more than to stomp into the pit's proving grounds and show them what I was made of.
I stepped into the inner rim of the pit before hearing the hip-hop-like intro to "on the verge." As the drums and guitar bleed into the intro, I know exactly what's in store for me- and it couldn't come sooner. As soon as Lundqvist enters and releases us into the main riff, I find myself quickly in the middle of the room. Stage lights overloading, the crowd is a sea of bodies bouncing, and I'm swinging at everything that moves and breathes within 3 feet of me. Thrown has made Greensboro come to life. As I'm helping pick up those who've fallen in our homemade battlegrounds, the room tenses once more with one of their most recent tracks, "split." Even being a newer track, the crowd recognizes it instantly. Having memorized every word since its release, myself and others rotate from assaulting one another to pushing the inner rim of the pit to scream back "split my head in two," as Thrown plays tracks that sound as great live as they do on record.
Along with the irony of the track, there's a rule within the mosh pit: if you are in it, you are fair game. As I turn around from whichever direction I was, shoving a soul into the Earth, another soul found me- seeing only a blur of knuckles, my face is on the receiving end of a haymaker. As I stumbled back, the gracious crowd-goers around me checked on me before widening their eyes. I notice I'm wet, and my face has been split open from the hit (see? Irony), and I am now leaking down my face. As my friend snags me to help me get something to clean up in the bathroom, I'm leaking down onto the sink- and I can't feel anything but that I'm missing out on one of the best bands I've seen all year.
Your dearest narrator, and friend/medic Jordan Slaymaker, during Thrown's track, "Split"
Going back into the crowd, I hear "backfire" start up- another favorite. Harmonic infused riffs and pick scrapes are just hammering this crowd into the venue's foundation. "bloodsucker" and "critic" continue classic older tracks, along with the sampling of the newer bits of the upcoming album, which we can expect to hear November 6th. By the time Thrown threw everything they had onto us, it was nothing but carnage by the time the lights came on and they walked off stage. I rarely, if ever, have this feeling, but I wanted more. I could have watched them destroy that stage with every track in their discography- a Thrown show is that cathartic and fun in the flesh.
Thrown has bulldozed their way through the United States this year, with the support of Norma Jean, BoltCutter, and Half Me and made way for possibly one of the better tours we've had come through North Carolina all year. Keep your eyes peeled as they gear up for their upcoming album release "UNWANTED" on November 6th, and their upcoming EU/UK headlining tour, supported by CounterParts, No Cure, and HeavensGate. Tickets here:
