Thorndale - Spiritual Chains (EP Review)

Release Date: September 12th 2025. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD

Spiritual Chains - Tracklisting

1 - Veins of the Phoenix

2 - Battles Fought in Vain

3 - Gods of Pain

4 - Twenty Thousand Souls

5 - Spiritual Chains

6 - Exiles and Masters

Members

Gustavo Valderrama - Vocals

Peter Shannon - Guitars

Maarten Jungschläger - Guitars

Zigor Munoz - Bass

Guest musician: Rob Stone - Drums

Review

Doom/Stoner Metallers Thorndale latest EP Spiritual Chains focuses primarily within the boundaries of modern day Doom/Stoner Metal but that doesn’t stop the band playing areas of Grunge, Heavy Metal, Thrash Metal and Speed Metal. The EP is full of groove laden meldoies and subtle NOLA based vocals that should appeal to fans such as DOWN, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY and CROWBAR with the odd appearance of Soundgarden and Motorhead at times.

Spiritual Chains doesn’t waste a single second or opportunity for Thorndale showing a riff-fuelled musical adventure where the trappings of Progressive attitudes are kept to a minimum which comes across the opening tracks of Veins Of The Phoenix, Battles Thought In Vain and Gods Of Pain. With a subtle charge of METALLICA thrash based grooves that are never in short supply, Thorndale keeps the atmosphere dominated by classic fast paced guitars and melodic vocals that show the right amount of depth and aggression when the heavier parts appear. 

The switching of psychedelic surroundings allows Thorndale to become part of the vibrant underground scene before venturing straight back to the old school of Classic Heavy Metal which is quite refreshing change of pace at times. The second half of the EP perhaps leans into NOLA and Groove Metal with the lyrics being defined by a certain Doom Metal swagger. The second batch of tracks that Thorndale power through are equally as impressive as the first half with Twenty Thousand Souls and Spiritual Chains being the standout moments with sludgy rhythms and screeching guitars have an ethereal Classic Hard Rock attitude.

The EP isn’t perhaps the most original sounding currently out there but what Thorndale do brilliantly well is amplify that great sound and give it a heavy DOOMED OUT makeover with aggressive Stoner Metal melodies that make a massive and mighty impression where I’m hopeful the next release is a longer record. As twenty two minutes isn’t enough time to spend with this great band.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Clawhammer PR for the promo.

Links

Official | BandCamp

Exclusive Song Premiere Of Doom/Groove/Stoner Metallers THORNDALE New Song INTO THE EYES OF OLD From Upcoming New Album LIGHTNING SPAWN

Groove/Doom/Stoner Metallers Thorndale will be releasing their debut album Lightning Spawn on February 23rd 2024.

I reviewed this bad-boy yesterday where I stated the following:

"Lightning Spawn is the new album from Thorndale captures a more modern flavour of Grooved Out Stoner Metal with a crunching collection of Doom Metal progressive passages. With a classical Heavy Metal sound which allows Thorndale to play some outstanding moments of Guitar Shredding with the band moving to a more familiar style of music whilst setting the scene with their own blend of harsh sounding grooves.

There’s moments of Pantera, Lamb Of God, Black Sabbath and Crowbar aggressive energy which Thorndale plays very early on within the album with opening tracks: Lightning Spawn and Ain’t The End Of My Rope. With an off-kilter NOLA based Sludgy element moving into more Prog Metal riff-wizardry which keeps a fine style of 1980’s Heavy Metal and modern day Psychedelic Doom/Stoner Metal sounds that lean into almost cinematic world-building moments which allows Thorndale to be quite more dominant with their HEAVY METAL creative side."

The awesome folks over at Grand Sounds Promotion have kindly let ourselves premiere the New Song/Video for INTO THE EYES OF OLD from the upcoming new album.

"Into the Eyes of Old,' Thorndale navigates the unstoppable passage of time and the haunting familiarity of life's cyclical nature, offering a deep reflection on mortality, regrets, and life's fleeting moments."

Thanks to Grand Sounds Promotion for the all of the details.

Lightning Spawn will be available to buy on CD/DD from February 23rd 2024.

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Thorndale - Lightning Spawn (Album Review)

 

Release Date: 23rd February 2024. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: CD/DD

Lightning Spawn - Tracklisting

1. Lightning Spawn

2. Ain’t the End of My Rope

3. Born as a Stranger

4. I Accuse You

5. Into the Eyes of Old

6. Foreboding

Review

Lightning Spawn is the new album from Thorndale captures a more modern flavour of Grooved Out Stoner Metal with a crunching collection of Doom Metal progressive passages. With a classical Heavy Metal sound which allows Thorndale to play some outstanding moments of Guitar Shredding with the band moving to a more familiar style of music whilst setting the scene with their own blend of harsh sounding grooves.

There’s moments of Pantera, Lamb Of God, Black Sabbath and Crowbar aggressive energy which Thorndale plays very early on within the album with opening tracks: Lightning Spawn and Ain’t The End Of My Rope. With an off-kilter NOLA based Sludgy element moving into more Prog Metal riff-wizardry which keeps a fine style of 1980’s Heavy Metal and modern day Psychedelic Doom/Stoner Metal sounds that lean into almost cinematic world-building moments which allows Thorndale to be quite more dominant with their HEAVY METAL creative side. 

The vocals are primarily clean-based with a slight FANTASTICAL and OTT delivery to them which works superbly well on the more outlandish moments where the guitar solos go off script and becoming more outrageous on tracks such as Ain’t The End Of My Rope, Born As A Stranger, I Accuse You and Foreboding.

Lightning Spawn does have a Post-Apocalyptic flow which keeps the album quite well grounded despite the Post-Doom and Destructive nature of the album. Thorndale even switched to moments of 90’s sounding Grunge for the later stages of the album with the band touching upon Alice In Chains and Soundgarden for direct influences whilst keeping their Doom/Stoner/Groove Metal mentality. The album is superbly melodic with a multitude of different styles from Throndale for listeners to contend with.

This allows Lightning Spawn to be quite an action packed ride that will delight the whole contingent of the Heavy Metal and Hard Rock community with its limitless amount of different styles and ferocious catchy grooves that will leave you breathless at times.

This is a great album and quality sounding release for Thorndale to make themselves more well known within the global Heavy Rock/Metal scene.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe 

Thanks to Grand Sounds Promotion for the promo.

Lightning Spawn will be available to buy on CD/DD om February 23rd 2024.

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram