It’s that time of year where we set out to interview as many of the Sophie, New Blood, and Jager bands as we can in the lead-up to one of the most anticipated festivals of the year, Bloodstock. Answering our questions here are Acid Throne who play the Jagermeister stage on the Sunday.
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
Hey! We are from Norwich, Norfolk, in the UK.
How long have you been playing together as a band?
As Acid Throne, we’ve been together for approximately 10 months.
Where does the name of the band come from?
We knew from the get-go that we wanted a name that helped to illustrate the sort of noise that we make, but we didn’t settle on one until we were well into the writing process. Our name doesn’t have any literal meaning besides giving an impression of the sort of sound & feel that we’re going for. The musical background of the band is pretty broad, so a nod towards bands like Acid King & Dark Throne seemed to suit us pretty well!
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
I suppose the main thing that sets us apart from other metal bands is that none of us come from a traditional heavy metal background. All four of us spent many years playing in punk rock & hardcore bands, & those are two genres that have orbited the wider heavy metal scene for decades. We all grew up in small towns with small music scenes, so it was normal to go to shows where you’d see a punk band supporting a black metal band, & the exposure to such a broad range of guitar music at an early age definitely rubbed off on our song-writing influences. It’s fair to say that we take inspiration from the whole spectrum of rock & metal, & that’s had a knock on effect on the way we approach the song-writing process. A lot of people have difficulty pin-pointing our sound – somewhere between stoner, doom & metal – & that suits us just fine!
What’s your live show like? Why are people going to watch you instead of another band?
Our live show’s a monstrous riff-fest. Expect to have your ear drums crushed by loud, heavy, blood-curdling, occult-themed doom. If you like to bang your head, you’ll dig our set.
Have you been to Bloodstock before? What did you think?
Unfortunately, we haven’t! It’s been on the list for ages though, so we’re incredibly grateful for the opportunity, not only to attend, but also to play.
When/how did you find out you’d been selected to play at Bloodstock?
Our first ever show was the opening heat of this year’s Metal 2 the Masses competition & much to our surprise, we made our way through some stiff competition, all the way to the final. We scooped the win in early June which was when Simon Hall invited us to play Bloodstock!
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What sort of setlist can we expect?
We’ll be playing our current release, The Demo, plus one more. If you want a flavour of what to expect, head over to our Bandcamp & give us a listen…
Which other band do you most hope you’re not clashing with so you can see them play?
Inhuman Nature. We had the privilege of supporting them recently & they put on a blistering live show. Definitely worth your time watching that band & grabbing a shirt!
What are you working on at the moment?
We’re currently writing. We had a great run of great shows leading up to Bloodstock, but we’ve decided to hibernate in the studio through the autumn & winter with a view to recording again early next year.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
We’ve only played a small handful of shows at this point, and as far as I’m aware, no one’s lost a limb or set fire to anything so far! I did once see a guy get knocked out onstage after a failed crowd-surf though. He pissed his pants while he was blacked-out and the show had to be stopped while security dragged his carcass off stage. That was pretty punk.
What drink do you throw back to get yourself fired up before going on stage?
We’ve recently made friends with the awesome dudes at DMC Brewery, & they produce a stunning line of alcoholic ginger beers, so I imagine we’ll try to lay our hands on some of that & sink a couple before going on stage. Otherwise, it’s safe to say that we’ll honour the sponsor of the stage we’re playing by shooting a couple of Jägermeister!
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