Top 5 On Friday – Ranking the 5 Throttlerod albums
Throttlerod formed in the middle of 1999, and began in Columbia, South Carolina. In 2000, they recorded their debut full length album called Eastbound And Down. The band relocated to Richmond, Virginia in 2001. The lineup went through a few different changes throughout the years but the only consistent band member was guitarist and vocalist Matt Whitehead. Drummer Kevin White has been with the band on all of their releases except their debut. Bo Leslie played second guitar on the first two albums, the debut and 2003’s Hell And High Water. Bassist Chris Sundstrom played on two albums, Hell And High Water and 2006’s Nail. Andrew Schneider (who recorded the band’s second, third, and fourth record) also played bass on 2009’s Pig Charmer. On the band’s 2016 Turncoat album, Jeremy Praugher played bass. Throttlerod also released an EP in 2004 called Starve The Dead and most recently unearthed a couple of tracks Anytime & Revival (from the Hell And High Water sessions) and released them on their Bandcamp page in 2023 (review here). Throttlerod released all of their albums on Small Stone Records with the exception of Eastbound And Down, which came out on Underdogma Records. In today’s post, I will rank the five full length albums from least to best, like I did with Solace, Red Fang, and Truckfighters. As I mentioned with the other reviews, the order is not set in stone and can change anytime. My number one and two picks are definitely interchangeable. I hope you enjoy this, and please go check out Throttlerod, if you haven’t already. They have been one of my favorite bands since I really got into this scene.
5. EASTBOUND AND DOWN
Released in 2000, Eastbound And Down was the debut Throttlerod album and contains thirteen songs. The music is heavy riff rock with a metal edge to their sound. Some of my favorite tracks include “Blue T-Top”, “On The Hunt”, “American Guadalupe”, “Hogwild”, “Wife Beater”, and “The Platter”. Matt Whitehead’s vocals were more aggressive and straightforward on this album and he didn’t really adopt his more singing style vocals yet. It’s definitely a great album but it was only the beginning of what Throttlerod would eventually become on later releases.
4. TURNCOAT
Throttlerod’s last album to date is 2016’s Turncoat. It had been over five years since their 2009 Pig Charmer record, and the band made some changes. For one, they got a new bassist in Jeremy Praugher and two, they parted ways with longtime engineer/ producer Andrew Schneider. The change resulted in working with J. Robbins to record the twelve song album. Turncoat is another fantastic recording and features a lot of the familiar and heavy angst of Nail and Pig Charmer but the sound has more melodic components added in. For me, the songs weren’t quite as memorable but it’s still a kick ass album. Some of my favorites are “Bait Shop”, “Lazy Susan”, “You Kicked My Ass At Losing”, “Every Giant”, and “Breadwinner” and “I Know A Ship”.
3. PIG CHARMER
Andrew Schneider became a permanent member of Throttlerod on their fourth album, Pig Charmer. Along with recording, he played bass and provided backing vocals. The band went full tilt on the noise rock element that they started with Nail. The bass sound was monstrous on this recording and amplified the heaviness of the riffs. Some highlight songs included “Hum”, “Baton Rouge”, “Buffalo”, “Rider”, “Dink”, and “Majors”. I really liked this album a lot and the heavy bass and overall heavy dynamics were crushing.
2. NAIL
Nail was the very first Throttlerod album I bought and the first one for the band as a power trio. It’s an absolutely incredible record through and through! It almost takes the number one spot and depending on my mood, sometimes it does! The noise rock elements were introduced on this one and the band delivered a colossal sound in all of its glory. The ear shattering, noisy guitar leads with the monstrous riffs, coupled with the chorus hooks, is a complete winner. I loved the direction that this album took the band in and sometimes I feel it is their best. Some of my favorites are “Prizefighter”, “Big Name”, “Nail”, “Rabbit”, “Shovel”, and “Indian Head”. Every song is fantastic and what a hell of a follow up to Hell And High Water.
1. HELL AND HIGH WATER
Hell And High Water is probably considered the favorite for most Throttlerod fans. I completely understand, because the album rules! The southern rock elements blended with their heaviness and hooks are infectious. The band has a huge sound on this one and really dials in the beautiful melody on certain songs. This is the second Throttlerod record and the last one with two guitarists. Bo Leslie left the band after this one but his contributions were impressive. Some of the best songs include “Marigold”, “Tomorrow With A Loaded Gun”, “No Damn Fool”, “In The Flood”, “Whistlin’ Dixie”, “Snake Into An Angel”, “On The Mountain”, “Across Town”, and “Mariana”. Actually, I could have listed all twelve tracks because they all rule!
There you have it, my take on one of the most underrated heavy riff rock bands ever. Throttlerod deserved to be huge, just based on Hell And High Water and Nail alone. I love all of their music and applaud the band for always progressing on each album and never making the same record twice. I really hope that they are still together. I never heard if they ever officially broke up or not. In the meantime, I am also a big fan of Matt Whitehead’s current band Shun. Check out my review for their 2024 release Dismantle (review here). Thanks for reading this!
