NonExist – “Throne Of Scars” [Album Review]

By the time Throne Of Scars has battered through the opening track “Pyroclastic Cluster Torment” I have to admit that my head was spinning. You see, the Swedish duo of Johan Liiva and Johan Reinholdz have crammed so much into their music that it’s hard to really grip onto any of it.

In fact, as the album progresses, it’s hard to even pinpoint what exactly the fuck NonExist are. Like I said, the album kicks off with the sonic headspinner before the pair deliver up a slice of industrial-tinged Megadeth-esque crunch on “A Promise Unfullfilled” before all hell breaks loose on the brutal “The New Flesh”. By this point the album is only at track four and I have no idea what the fuck is going on, or what to expect next from the Swedish outfit.

“Before The Storm Takes Me” is more straightforward brutality while “Cathedrals Beyond” is a darker, part-spoken word part grinding metal passage and, by the time the album reaches “The Anatomy Of Insanity” and frontman Johan barks “let the madness begin,” I’m finding it pretty hard to keep listening.

What I can deduce is that Throne Of Scars is a dark, suffocating record. It has no allegiance to one particular genre meaning that, as an album, the end result appears to be nothing more than a mish-mash of whatever the fuck comes out of their heads. An interesting idea, but the end result is utterly infuriating.

Track Listing:

01. Pyroclastic Cluster Torment
02. A Promise Unfullfilled
03. The New Flesh
04. Throne of Scars
05. Before the Storm Takes Me
06. Rodents of War
07. Cathedrals Beyond
08. Enter Eternal Night
09. The Anatomy of Insanity

Run Time: 43:56
Release Date: October 9, 2015

Check out the song “Throne of Scars” here.