Unfettered by man or beast "Thonian Horde" stands triumphant sounding their rallying call to arms with throes of tumultuous sounds and soul penetrating screams. Coming from Boonsboro, Maryland, "Thonian Horde" has been going strong since 2014 delivering unto the world their junior album "Downfall."

Kicking off with a song entitled "the Narcissist" the album opens with a riff-heavy delve into black metal and all that it encompasses. The guitars themselves breathe in essences of black metal focusing on opened chords, dirty tones, and atmospheric solos; the drums paint in the mood by filling the space in between with accents and constant kicks binding the whole of the band together; the bass provides the foundation for the guitars to build off of and keeps the whole of the tracks grounded and solid. "Chaos Theory Magick" is perhaps the most upbeat track on the list carrying about itself an odd and eerie guitar riff which sounds itself more sanguine than somber whilst "Bring the Pain" is perhaps the most depressive track on the album sounding almost self-inflicting in its passages.

The intoxicating ambience of the work solidifies the ideas of desperation and destitution, toying with both metaphysical constraints within the space of a soundscape. The derisive tones of the guitars encourage even darker feelings damnation and inevitabilities to supplant reason and logic in favor of much more somber ideologies. Songs such as "Hymn to Lilith" accomplish this with minimalism, focusing on those darker elements music rather than an exaggerated composition with sweeping changes and unexpected transitions. "Downfall" exists within the opposite end of the spectrum, consisting of many different changes and eclecticisms found within the composition, some of which are blues-esque.

The mix of the instruments is done well such that no instrument directly overlaps one another or draws attention away from the band as a whole; both guitars are similar enough to blend and create a singular sound yet distinct enough to define themselves if one truly listens close enough; the bass rests at the perfect volume providing substance and a constant drive for the band when the strings are playing leads or contrasting the vocals; the singing is manic and corrosive a great fit for the instrumentation; lastly, the drums tie the entire band together combining in wholly separate elements into a single entity.

The album reigns in impressively at just shy of 52 minutes, delivering 10 songs of brutal weight in just under an hour, few in fact posses the ability to write such defined material. By intention the album achieves what the band had set out for in the first place making good music and forcing despondent tendencies upon the listener-the soft muddied tracks caress the spirit with the eldritch sensation of forgotten wastes and the appreciation of nothingness. The title of the album speaks for itself in terms of musical themes and will surely appeal to anyone with a penchant towards black metal.