Throematism is a name created from a neologism by the French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan, in which he combines the words trou (hole, in French) and traumatisme (traumatism). It was with this invention that he inserted trauma in the spectre of language, characterizing it as something that escapes any representation, even leaving us speechless. Throematism, the new record from post metal / experimental / post rock act THROE, is a way of trying to name some unclassifiable pains of our time.
The album was composed between 2020 and 2021 and co-produced by Vina (Vinicius Castro) along with Marco Nunes who did the mixing and mastering at Tori Studios. The tracks from Throematism brings influences of post-rock, shoegaze, industrial and variations of metal, like Celtic Frost, Jesu, Paradise Lost, Isis, among others.
Vina defines Throematism as “an album intimate of pain. It’s a record dedicated to every heart that beats out of time for having lost someone they loved.”
The cover image is by Claudia Tavares, a photographer with a sensitive eye, resident in Portugal. The pic was made at Cova Redonda beach, in the Algarve, Portugal. The cover art direction is signed by Thiago Minoru.
Among other meanings, “throe” means a huge pain, so intense that words are not enough to describe it. It’s unbearable, thus needs to be purged. That’s why throe, solo project by Vina is an expression of those things you feel with overwhelming intensity: sadness, passion, irritation, melancholy, anger and pain.
With two singles and an EP already released, Throe arrives in 2021 keeping its main characteristics: weight, beauty and a lot of intensity.
10 Records that influenced Throematism:
Jesu – “Conqueror”
I admire the way Justin Broadrick has handled his music since the time he was in Napalm Death. I find it interesting the way he searched his way through the Head of David, forming Fall of Because, Godflesh, Final, JK Flesh, Jesu, among many other projects and collaborations. He is an artist who influences me beyond music. Whether people think what he does is good or bad, accessible or not, heavy or not, dancing or not, noisy or not, it seems to me that his only commitment is to his own artistic expression. That’s influence me with the Throe. I choose the album “Conqueror”, by Jesu, because it is one of my favorite albums, but I could put any Jesu’s album on that list. A lot of what I do on Throe has, directly or indirectly, a little bit of Jesu.
Darkthrone – “A Blaze in the Northern Sky”
For me, this is one of the best records of my life. It was released in Brazil in 1991 and the impact was immense; I think since then there’s been a lot of it in the stuff I write, even it happens in underground layers. Darkthrone have your own way to make your music and this is the real thing for me. “A Blaze in the Northern Sky” it’s a cold, hopeless and a violent record, but it’s also beautiful and with some amazing melodies, like in the beautiful final part of “Paragon Belial”, which is a song that, perhaps unconsciously, influenced me a lot in “Último Céu”, especially in the final part of the song.
Portishead – “s/t”
Beth Gibbons is perhaps one of my favorite singers and the way she interprets songs always seems to me very honest, sensitive and strong. It always makes me as transparent as possible with myself and the way I want my songs to sound. Beth, Geoff Barrow and Adrian Utley manage to imprint a unique identity on Portishead’s songs. You listen and you already know it’s them.
Fields of the Nephilim – “The Nephilim”
The 80’s Gothic is very present in the Throe. Fields of the Nephilim is a band that has influenced me because of the way they use tense and melodies and that catches me in the music and that I bring to Throe. I still remember the feeling of listening to “Last Exit for the Lost” for the first time. It’s a song that gradually bring elements, layers and explodes in a beautiful and emotional ending. The idea of the repetitive bass riff and the simple drums guiding the song is something very present not only in “Throematism”, but in all Throe records. Whenever I hear “Last Exit for the Lost” I get emotional.
Doves – “Some Cities”
I love this album. Pretty melodies aside, I think there’s a kind of whining hope in Doves’ songs. I think it connects me with the band and “Some Cities” has a bit of that, although the songs on this album aren’t quite as melancholic as on “Lost Souls”, for example. I think Doves is close to the way I see some of the more emotional outbursts that happen in the songs on “Throematism”.
The Cult – “Love”
I was very young when I met The Cult and the first song I heard was “Revolution”, which was always playing a lot on Brazilian radio stations. I really like the song and got the album as a present from my parents. And then, when I heard “Rain” for the first time, it quickly became one of my favorite songs of my whole life. I think the Cult presence in “Throematism” is similar to what I mentioned about Paradise Lost, because of the melodies and guitar phrases present in The Cult and also because of the elegant and smart way Billy Duff creates awesome melodies that you never forget.
Jesus and Mary Chain – “Darklands”
Noise and feedback as aesthetics. Jesus and Mary Chain have always been a reference for me because of the way they built their sound without caring if it was too loud for pop, too pop for alternative rock, or both. Regarding “Throematism” I think there is a conflict between noise, more palatable notes and dissonances, which is perhaps the convergence I look for to what happens in the songs I write. This is something I really like about Jesus and Mary Chain songs, especially on the first two records.
Paradise Lost – “Gothic”
I am a great admirer of the band and their first 5 albums have influenced me a lot, mainly because of the melodies that Gregor MacKintosh transported from English gothic to the guitar. “Shades of God” is my favorite album, but I can’t escape the influence that “Gothic” has on my music. It’s one of the records that changed my life. When it first came out, everything about it sounded very new, and it had all that melancholy and goth melodies with the heavy sound of bands like Trouble and Candlemass. Songs like “Rapture” and “Eternal” are beautiful.
The Cure – “Disintegration”
I really like the “Pornography” record, but their album that influenced “Throematism” the most was “Disintegration”. Every sad feeling that exists in it is always very dense and dragging, as are the pains that take time to be resolved. The long songs on this record influenced me because somehow, I freed myself from having to think about songs with a fixed time frame. I think “Disintegration” and its long tracks show that sadness can’t be in a hurry. It has its time and, whether long or short, it needs to happen that way to be understood. It’s an inspiring record and it influenced me directly in the use of guitar effects on the track “Gone” because when I composed this song, I wanted to try emulate the Chorus pedal effect used on the guitar sound of “Disintegration”.
Red Sparowes – “Every Red HeartShines Toward the Red Sun”
A friend once told me that Throe was somehow resemblant to the Mogwai stuff, but I’ve never seen it that way. To me Red Sparowes, who ironically are influenced by Mogwai, have more to do with the music of “Throematism” because of the way they use the melodies and the clever mix of progressive rock and post-rock references. “Every Red Heart Shines Toward the Red Sun” is a perfect album and that is always present in my life.
