Music

Since forming in 2011 to release their excellent Slave Wages demo on Bandcamp last year while being hailed as the perfect mixture between thrash and groove metal’, Hawkesbury locals Thraxas! have enjoyed being recently bunkered down in Brookvale’s Housefox Studios to record new single ‘Cthulhu Rising’. The upcoming track is a terrifying sonic beast packed with unique ideas and heavy on “ballistic drums, savage riffs, soaring guitars and screaming vocals”, the group tell me, truly exemplifying the expanding directions of the group’s songwriting and musical chemistry. With Housefox hosting such cutting-edge contemporary acts as Psycroptic, Black Rheno, Greenleaf and Child Bite, Thraxas! say it was an honour to work with producer Ryan Miller to develop the song, which is currently undergoing its final mixing and mastering.

On March 31st at The Valve Bar, Sydney, a rowdy crowd witnessed the debut live performance of the track alongside crushing sets from RiotChain, Facing Zero, Visualis, Wollongong rockers Oshie and Blue Mountains locals Magma One. Now part of a well-honed set list with brand new rager ‘Seven Sided Strike’, ‘Cthulhu Rising’ will be unleashed yet again at Bangers & Thrash festival at The Chippo Hotel, Chippendale, a five-year annual event that will start at 12:30PM with a bill of 11 intimidating bands and tickets at $30. Attendance at the event will be a first for band members Bull, Dan, Aleks and Izak, who make up Thraxas!With the digital release of the single possibly coming in August, the group also reveal that an EP is to be out in the near future, with a debut album on the horizon that’s also being planned.

Relating to the larger scheme of things, Thraxas! proudly reveal that even with a limitation of regularly participating venues in the area, the Hawkesbury, Nepean and Western Suburbs scenes are currently alive and kicking! Though there is a cultural imbalance due to the existence of more gig-hungry metal bands than accomodating venues, most fans of the scene are able to enjoy a gig once a week, with ventures to the Blue Mountains also being a popular option. In keeping this movement developing with many healthy forays into different metal styles, key local acts and friends of Thraxas! are Acrolysis, T-Rex Autopsy, Adriaaan, and Colonel Slamders, most of which are present on social media. You can follow Thraxas!’s Facebook and Instagram accounts to keep track of their new material and witness some fresh merchandise that will also be physically available at shows. Until then, keep the mosh going and ready your ears for ‘Cthulhu Rising’.

Words by Corin Shearston

Photos by The Music Producer