Thaw (PL)

Thaw – Between Extremes and Subtlety

For 15 years, they have been breaking genre conventions and barriers, boldly venturing beyond metal territory. They’ve played alongside the biggest names and performed at the most important European festivals. This October, Thaw will appear at the 14th edition of the Fonomo Music & Film Festival.

Trance, weight, atmosphere

Thaw was formed in 2010 in Sosnowiec. Although associated with the black metal scene, from the very beginning their music defied genre labels, challenging the common notion that metal must be stylistically uniform. Black? Sludge? Doom? Post-metal? Thaw claim no allegiance to any specific metal style, steadfastly insisting that they simply play music. Music that, with each release, takes on a new dimension — from the noisy wildness of their first demo Decay to the ambient landscapes drenched in bleak atmosphere on their latest album Fading Backwards, released after a seven-year hiatus. Elements of noise, ambient, and experimental electronics have always been part of the band’s work, standing on equal footing with the guitar heaviness in building a sound that is both unsettling and hypnotic.

From Brutal Assault to Off Festival

The genre-blurring nature of Thaw’s music allows the band to fit equally well at traditional metal events like Brutal Assault, Mystic Fest, Metalmania, or Norway’s Inferno Festival, as well as at festivals with more diverse line-ups, such as Off Festival, the Netherlands’ Roadburn, or Primavera Sound in Barcelona. Thaw has toured Europe alongside Behemoth and Bölzer, and has shared stages with Jarboe, Godflesh, and Boris. The band’s line-up is personally connected to groups like Furia, ARRM, Untervoid, and Larmo. The members prefer to go by initials only, and often turn their backs to the audience — because the music is what matters most. At their concerts, Thaw embraces improvisation, making each performance a unique sonic spectacle. Witnesses claim that the intensity of these experiences rivals the finest moments of the legendary New York band Swans.

• Check out tickets for this year’s edition!
  See the program. Event times are subject to change.