Indiana power metal thrashers Idol Throne formed in 2018, cutting their teeth with a demo and first album that established their sound. On their second album, A Clarion Call, they’re expanding their mission statement and getting more ambitious, delving deeper into the progressive side of their music and maintaining the energetic power-thrash that’s already there.
The first taste of A Clarion Call comes in the form of “The Last Voyage,” which you can listen to right now. Leading with a lively, Khemmis-eque riff that both gallops and soars, vocalist Jake Quintanilla has the necessary power to pull of his heavy metal vocals. Later, a thrashy groove and gang vocals inject the song with a jolt of energy.
“When writing the lyrics for ‘The Last Voyage,’ I wanted to tell the story of El Dorado, with the emphasis being on deception,” Quintanilla explains. “A legend repurposed to a fool’s errand. In popular culture, the deceiver’s reasoning is either misrepresented or excluded in total. What better way to keep your land than to send the hopeful conquerors on a journey to the gods?”
Speaking to the musical side of things, guitarist Jason Schultz breaks down the song:
“‘The Last Voyage’ is the first track that we debuted live from the upcoming record, and it has been a ton of fun to play. We are incredibly excited to have this track be the first the world hears of our new record, and since writing this one we always knew it would be first out of the gate! I really love the aggressive vocal delivery in the verses that mirrors the intensity of the guitars and drums, and the solo section and heavy bridge section display some really cool interplay between the band members, and some different vibes to what we have done previously. Our vocalist Jake brought in the main hook and melody for the chorus and we were immediately stoked at what this song could be! The mix of melody, heaviness, and technicality really serves as a great jumping off point for the rest of the record.”
If you like what you hear, you can answer The Clarion Call and check out Idol Throne on Bandcamp.
