Throttlerod – Anytime & Revival: 2002 Recovered Demos
Exactly one year ago, Greenville, South Carolina/ Richmond, Virginia heavy rockers, Throttlerod unearthed these two songs from the Hell And High Water demos. These songs were recorded in 2002 at Glass Hand Studios before the official recording of Hell And High Water. The tracks sat forgotten for over twenty years until they were recovered in late 2022. The band found the original engineer, Mark Miley, who still had the original one inch tapes. Throttlerod proceeded to add some finishing touches on the songs and had them mastered by Nick Zampiello. Nick was the one who mastered the Hell And High Water album.
I discovered Throttlerod in 2006, just as their album Nail was being released. I remember hearing good things about them from the good old stoner rock dot com forum. I bought Nail and then Hell And High Water immediately afterwards. I have been a huge fan ever since! Throttlerod has never put out the same record twice. Each and every one of their albums are different with new explorations in the creation of their music. The essence of the sound are always present in every release but they were never shy about trying new things, sonically speaking. Every several months or so, I revisit the band’s discography but Nail and Hell And High Water remain my two favorites from them. When I found out about these two rediscovered songs, I was psyched!
The lineup for these two songs is the same for Hell And High Water. Matt Whitehead on vocals and guitars, Kevin White on drums, Chris Sundstrom on bass and backing vocals, and Bo Leslie on guitars. “Anyways” and “Revival” both have a similar sound to the Hell And High Water album, with a southern rock feel and a heavy dose of riff rock. Throttlerod did a great job with these tunes and the sound quality is excellent.
“Anyways” is the first song presented and is 4:48 long. It’s a great song with a nice heavy groove about it. Matt Whitehead’s voice sounds excellent! His laidback delivery on the verses is accompanied by a higher register chorus and a great catchy line of:“Maybe I’ll realize, down the line, how to take your advice.” The music is in the same caliber as Hell And High Water with a tinge of southern rock charm and a whole lot of heavy rocking rhythm. The riffs flow along nicely and the music has a few stop start moments also. The guitar leads are excellent and the band also incorporate some cool backing vocals which enhance the overall sound. The next song “Revival” is also a banger! It starts with some accents and the kick drum setting up the rhythm which begins chugging along. The rocking groove is infectious and gets the head nodding in no time. The song is also sung with Whitehead’s stellar vocal delivery. It is just a hair shy of four and a half minutes long. Throttlerod has a fantastic way of riffing along and seamlessly connecting a great lead guitar part with such finesse. Both of these songs are fantastic! They both sound very fresh and current and not out dated one bit. The same can be said for all of their records.
I encourage everyone to go to Throttlerod’s Bandcamp page and purchase these songs. They are fantastic and worth getting for the full audio experience. I really hope the band will make another album in the future. Throttlerod has always been one of my favorites in the genre and I feel they are underrated. Matt Whitehead is currently in the band Shun (review here) which is very good. I believe Bo Leslie (the other Throttlerod guitarist) is also involved now.
