Thrown - Crystal Lake - Unity TX -
Graphic Nature
Apr 30th 2025
Wizemann, Stuttgart, Germany
Review By:
Stefan Raspl
Metalcore hasn't really been my thing - up till I stumbled upon a video
by THROWN. Holy crap, you can power a small village with the energy of
one of their songs! Realizing they play close by, I got my crew
together, and off we went!
We arrived at what must have been probably the middle of GRAPHIC
NATURE's set at the venue (thanks again to the terrible traffic around
Stuttgart, plus the city getting creative with their road constructions
- grrrr). If this show wasn't sold out, there sure weren't many tickets
left. The crowd was really young, I'd guess 15-25 for a substantial
part.
GRAPHIC NATURE had mediocre sound, and this gimmick with their guitar
section all wearing rain ponchos (seems to be a thing in that scene).
They didn't leave much of an impression, but once again reminded me
that this is...something different, when they asked the crowd to sit
down(!), which they actually did for the most part, just to get up
again for the next song. Not the only instance this night where I was a
bit surprised. Crowd response was favorable.
Next up were UNITY TX, from (you guessed it!) Texas, US. They had a
really bad start with technical issues, which left most of the band
waiting on stage to get (I guess - they didn't explain) the backing
tracks going. The vocalist eventually tried to bridge the time
interrogating the crowd - with cheesy questions such as whether we
liked Mc Donald's, Burger King, and similar weird ones. I had written
them half off, but, holy crap, once they got going, they delivered the
goods big time! Lots of action on stage, led by their vocalist, which
had it all: Great stage presence, the most versatile vocals of the
night (ranging from pretty convincing rap over regular to clean up to
growls - all very good!), catchy songs that saw awesome crowd response
considering their placing on the bill. Circle pit was going strong,
although the vocalist asked the crowd to create a "safe space for the
ladies" in the pit at some point, which actually did work for a song.
Again, seems to be a thing in the scene, saw some youtube videos of
other bands doing something very similar. Their sound was great, and
they played a varied set, I'd say "regular" metalcore, some material
bordering rap-metal, and also one song "Diamond Diez" that even has a
hint of disco(!) - all very well done, and a lot of fun. They were
easily the best of the opening bands.
Next up were CRYSTAL LAGE from Tokyo, Japan. They sure seemed to be
very experienced, and their drummer was playing that double bass with
ease, giving your stomach a good massage throughout the set. But they
were ultimately lacking, still: Vocalist seemed to be able to only do
growls in three different pitches, which got quite stale real fast.
Sound wasn't great, either, as the vocals were too low in the mix, and
the leads (the only ones of the entire night) were hard to make out.
Also, we were a bit baffled, when they ended the show halfway through,
and then did the second part of their set as encores - not sure what
that was about. And it didn't help that I never really connected to
their material, either. Still: Crowd response was good, though a bit
worse than for the previous band, and they got a first wall of death
going.
Finally THROWN. Holy crap - these guys were turning up pretty much
every aspect of their show to 11: Sound was crystal clear, with heavy
bottom, and a snare that still cut through easily. Their entire set was
pure energy and aggression from first to last minute, absolutely
relentless, reminding me of when the DEFTONES exploded on the scene in
their AROUND THE FUR era. The vocalist was going for it all the time,
and the whole audience became a moving mass, constantly bouncing around
to all their songs. Their material relies quite a bit on loops, and
especially the intros were pushing things: My buddies had no ear
protection on, and regretted doing so quite a bit, as even I could feel
how those intros worked my ears WITH protection!
THROWN definitely destroyed, and I'd bet they will become a lot bigger.
It will be interesting to observe how their concept of 2 Minutes max
songs will play out, though: The set hardly lasted 40 Minutes, which
was OK - once they were done, there we no complaints. At all. And, no,
there were no encores.They only have a full length plus an EP out so
far, with a combined(!) playing time of about 30 Minutes, so not THAT
much of surprise there. But I can't imagine a 35 Minutes plus set in a
larger theater with 2 Minute songs. But I have a feeling we will find
out in the future!
Back to Concerts