TRONALD
Tronald
APF Records
30th September 2017

What I love more than anything else is music that pushes the boundaries of The Heavy. I seek out ever more distorted, downtuned and raging guitars, played through amps that are on the verge of meltdown. Drums that drag the riff down into the very depths of hell. Vocals that are murderous and demonic, whether sung or growled, harnessing the filth that’s churning in the rhythms and riffs surrounding them.

When I signed Mastiff to APF Records earlier this year I thought I’d achieved my aim of having the heaviest band on the planet on my label. That might still be the case, although in Tronald they now have stiff competition.

Tronald is the brainchild of Charlie Seisay and Andy Preece, musical brothers from their time together in Halfling’s Leaf and more latterly Thing. Neither of those bands has given Satan any cause for concern in the past, so who would’ve thought our dynamic duo would make something so thrillingly horrifying? Utilizing the studio skills of wunderkind engineer / producer Rian Gamble the duo have fashioned a debut which is ferociously heavy, brimming with creativity, and unlike anything you are likely to have heard before.

Opening track “Tronald” is a statement of intent: it contains the most bruising, amp-wrecking, unsettlingly heavy single-note experimental guitar filth you’ll hear this side of Sunn O))). The big, fat riff of the year belongs to “Obelisk Ov Hash”, which grinds and drags itself across the floor before taking off into pure magnificent stoner boogie half way through (with Mower’s Jared Tuck tearing his throat out over it). On “Vegan Gains” Matt Franklin of Under delivers the best recorded scream I have heard on an album, probably ever. Its spine tingling and gives me goose bumps every time I listen to it.

Elsewhere Martin Battle (Riggots), Steve Dobb (Hyena Kill) and Alex Hurst (Boss Keloid) deliver some of the best vocals of their careers whilst Seisay and Preece find new and unique ways to make everything nastier, with Gamble’s mastery of the sound desk enabling them to achieve this aim. Jack Townley (Elephant Tree, god, my hero) has taken the monstrous mixes and mastered them to sound like the end of the world.

This is music to soundtrack The Walking Dead. The perfect companion to a 70s horror movie. It’s just the beginning for Tronald. Future releases with a whole different set of vocalists are planned. And this is no mere studio project: Tronald will be making their live debut at the APF Records showcase in February next year. But for now they’ve made a vital, cutting edge, at times amusing (Al Hurst of Boss Keloid singing on a song called “Boss Keloid Are Shit”), volcanically heavy and utterly unique record which reveals new secrets and nuances with every listen.

And just wait til you see the Sam Yates (Ingested) designed 6-panel digipak. It’s a thing of beauty.

apfrecords.bigcartel.com/product/tronald