Thronar was formed in 1998 and recorded two demo tapes as Cerberus. After changing their name in order to not be confused with other bands anymore, Thronar set forth into the world of metal.
Unleash The Fire, the band’s second full-length, is a mixture of pagan, viking and old-school metal with an epic approach. I was anxious to lay hands on this latest release of these Dutch viking metallers. Could this be the new, quality viking record I’d been hoping for?

Thronar takes their storytelling approach very serious, as can be derived from the atmospheric intro ‘Prelude To War’. Although this track doesn’t really represent what the band stands for in terms of music, it does set the mood for what’s to come.
Then, the beast is unleashed. Thronar is indeed a mix of the viking and pagan styles, with clean vocals thrown in between in a chanting manner. Next to that, Reamon’s guttural reaping goes extremely well with the melodic, yet incredibly heavy music. It does at times remind of Amon Amarth or the likes of them, but Thronar maintain their own style because of the clean vocals and innovative melody lines.
The tracks vary from slow to fast and thus manage to capture the pace of ‘battle’ by means of incorporating sudden changes in tempo, melody and vocal style. Apart from the occasional intro the synthesizers have been pushed back a lot, and don’t add that much to the whole picture. But not to worry, the guitar work is more than enough for Unleash The Fire to maintain its power and atmosphere.
The songs differ a lot from each other and remind of quite a few bands. ‘The Old Condemned Immortal’, with a few small changes such as a guitar solo and screams instead of grunts, could have been a SuidAkrA track with ease. Something which most certainly is not a bad thing in my book.

Despite reminding of several other leading bands in the genre of viking/folk metal, Thronar maintains their own, unique sound. The vocals made a lasting impression on me in the best sense of the word, and therefore I’ll be looking forward to hearing more of this talented band. If you like viking/pagan metal, then go get this record!