Melbourne metalcore five-piece Thornhill today announce details of their hugely-anticipated debut full-length album The Dark Pool, due for release on Friday October 25 via UNFD. Introduced by pelting lead single and video ‘Nurture’ (which enjoyed a rabid premiere via Reddit overnight), The Dark Pool marks Thornhill’s next assault on an expectant heavy scene.
Since emerging in 2016, the band have made a playground of the Australian heavy sphere, earmarking themselves as one of the country’s most refreshing and unrelenting emerging acts. Having stretched their touring muscles alongside the likes of Northlane, Architects, Parkway Drive, In Hearts Wake and Polaris and impressed with releases including their 2018 EP Butterfly and recent single ‘Coven’, the clever and colourful The Dark Pool promises to be a breakout for Thornhill.
From the unrelenting riffage of ‘Nurture’, to the sweltering breakdown of ‘Views From The Sun’, and the breathy moment of rest on ‘All The Light We Don’t See’, The Dark Pool captures the breadth and depth of this group’s knockout brand of heavy. On its musicality, Thornhill lead vocalist Jacob Charlton explains that:
“We wanted it to have enough difference that people would be surprised, and it would also allow us to keep branching out down the track. We wanted to sprinkle enough in The Dark Pool that we could continue to build on, we never want to pigeon hole ourselves into a genre, that was never the point of Thornhill. We just want to be exactly who we want to be every single time.”
Thematically, he shares that each track touches on various common threads of humanity. ‘Nurture’ is a commentary on idolising someone/something and losing yourself in the middle of that, and elsewhere the record touches on anxiety (‘Coven’), body image (‘In My Skin’), the afterlife (‘Where We Go When We Die’) and loss (‘Lily & The Moon’). On the genesis of its namesake, Jacob explains it refers to a dark, reflective pool where we can all see a mirror of ourselves and what makes us who we are. While each track is closely linked his reality, Jacob encourages listeners to reflect on their own experiences and take their own meanings from his lyrics.
“Every theme and meaning on this album is in direct relation to my life at any point of writing. It helps me to draw from experiences and moments that feel real to me so that I can translate that emotion into something people can relate to. You don’t have to listen to this and think about what I believe the song is to me, I would love for you to take away your own meaning and make your own story that makes you feel like this record is about you,” he says.
“For example, ‘Lily & The Moon’ is about my dog, but it’s also broadly about loss so everyone can relate to that in their own way, it could be about anyone someone has lost or is losing. It’s not supposed to be a story of sadness either, it’s supposed to be a reminder to make sure that we care enough about the people that we love while we still have them.”
Thornhill will celebrate The Dark Pool with a thumping hometown release show on Friday November 15. It goes down at Melbourne’s Stay Gold with support from Deadlights, Mirrors and Tapestry. Elsewhere, the band are due to support The Amity Affliction at Heaven and Hell Festival in September alongside Underoath, Crossfaith, Trophy Eyes, Void Of Vision, Pagan and more. They’ll also join Wage War on their recently-announced European run in January.
‘THE DARK POOL’ TRACKLISTING:
1. ‘Views From The Sun’
2. ‘Nurture’
3. ‘The Haze’
4. ‘Red Summer’
5. ‘In My skin’
6. ‘All The Light We Don’t See’
7. ‘Lily & The Moon’
8. ‘Coven’
9. ‘Human’
10. ‘Netherplace’
11. ‘Where We Go When We Die’
THORNHILL – THE DARK POOL ALBUM LAUNCH
w/ special guests Deadlights, Mirrors + Tapestry
Friday November 15 – Stay Gold, Melbourne (18+)
Tickets
