Track By Tracks: Thorndale - Spiritual Chains (2025)
1. Gods of Pain:
Zigor: powerful riffs on top of a powerful message. Lyric-wise wise this number deals with the fact that while lots of folks spend their lives chasing riches and whatnot, we end up owning nothing when we die. Musically, for me, the song builds up this tension along the way, almost as if Death were the climax of life as opposed to the lowest point, the end.
That riff at the beginning is very much in your face and powerful. That filled Maarten's plays added much darkness to it. I find that main riff very haunting. I have to say I am happy to see Gus going back to some of those vocals he uses in this song. The balance adds a ton of flavour. Having heard the song being written from the ground up, I can say this one changed quite a bit as we layered vocals and Maarten’s guitar on top.
The song was originally called When Your Curtain Falls and “gods of pain” was something I had written in the lyrics along with Gus (which is typically how we work). During the studio sessions with Jeff, the idea to call it what it’s called now came up. When I spoke to Gus that evening, we realised we were all thinking the same thing, so there it is. Powerful name: Gods of pain delivering swift justice to us all at the end of our lives.
Maarten: This is the first album on which I was able to contribute guitar parts. Basically, all the songs and structures were already written. For each song, I started by listening and thinking about how I could add additional parts. I recorded my ideas and sent them in, and I believe everything I contributed made it onto the album.
The song "Gods of Pain" was already strong enough, and aside from some harmonizing of the guitar riffs, I added the intro solo because I thought it would make the opening of the song a bit more exciting. After adding the solo, I listened to the song again and came up with a melody line that fit perfectly in that spot. This added some extra flavor to the track.
When I heard the song complete with vocals for the first time, I was blown away by all the elements in it.
Kike: Loved the opening riff. Those open chords hit hard. Simple, straight to the point. At first, I wasn’t sold on the verse vocals during pre-production. But when I tracked them with Jeff Henson, he told me to leave them as they were and just rough up the chorus. We tried it and it clicked. The title came from a random line we spit out in the studio. It stuck.
Peter: Gus really brought this song together. The groove and riffs are a bit of a gut-punch, but it really needed the vocals to push it. I was happy to hear that Gus kept it gritting because the riffs, in my mind, had a bit of a Gojira flare. The harsher vocals in the chorus kind of completed that vision for me.
2. Veins of the Phoenix:
Zigor: This was originally called something else, and the lyrics dealt with something different. I love what Gus did here as he took over. Powerful imagery in the lyrics that perfectly match the music, in my view.
The song did evolve, but that opening melody opened the proverbial gates of hell. This was the very first song we got Maarten involved to contribute to, and initially his ideas were basic yet great things we’d “overlooked”, powerful things in the music like simplifying things or stripping down parts. This one sounds like an anthem now, at least to me.
I think that bit in the middle, that transition, Peter and I rewrote or added before we got Maarten to join the band, but I can’t remember well anymore. The end result speaks for itself. It rocks.
Maarten: I think I proposed to strip down the intro to only the melody. Since the song was already written, I added some parts to complete or build an extra layer on top of Peter’s riffs.
I really like the arpeggiated part before the solo—we panned Peter’s and my parts left and right in the mix, which ended up sounding very cool.
Kike: First song I recorded with Jeff. Three afternoons in Austin. I played him the demo and he goes, “Sounds good… but kinda like Creed. You sure that’s what you want?” That hit me. We stripped it down and rebuilt it from there.
Peter: This was a writer’s block breakthrough song for me. I know it wasn’t the first song written for the album, but after my first idea or 2, I hit a wall. When I came up with this one, I felt like I was onto something, and after sending Zigor the demo, he confirmed by calling it “some of my finest work yet.”
3. Twenty Thousand Souls:
Zigor: This was Maarten’s first foray into writing music in Thorndale, and both Peter and I agree we love the evil stuff we injected into it. That intro is in your face and lays the foundation for how the rest of the song would turn out.
Lyrically, this is one of my favourite songs on the album. It talks about a group of people in what was the largest city on Earth at the time and how ruthless, tribal and unwelcoming of anything that didn’t look like them was… and how sadly in 2025 that shit hasn’t changed much… if anything it’s spread across the World. The human condition, I guess.
Maarten: As I was jamming on the guitar, I came up with some riffs that I thought would fit this Thorndale album well. I sent them to the guys, and they liked the riffs. A bit later, they sent me back a complete song built around those riffs. Great job by the guys, especially since I was just in jamming mode. After I received the basic song, I added some additional parts, such as the heavy B chord breakdown over the riff. At home in my home studio, I cranked the guitars loud during the recording process to really feel how heavy that sound was. And Peter’s solo is amazing here. It’s great to hear some of my riffs come back as a complete song.
Kike: This one gave me a hard time. I had too many vocal ideas, none really landed. We cut it down and kept it simple. Less was more. The chorus turned out catchy. I didn’t like this song much at first, but now I do. It surprised me.
Peter: Maarten did all the heavy lifting on this one, I think I may have contributed one riff. I love the momentum and catchy chorus on this one and the relentless outro. This song called for an outro solo, which was a bit of a daunting task considering the riffs at the end already feel like a full-force assault. So I took the approach of trying to make the solo sound chaotic. I’d love to see a crowd mosh to this one!
4. Spiritual Chains:
Zigor: The whole premise of the album lyrically deals with how societal, tribal, or religious norms put shackles on individuals and people live their lives enslaved by those. The intro words couldn’t be clearer in this regard. Those words have always rung so true to me. Still do today.
The song is groovy, and it has this strange and dark vibe about it. Some of the lyrics continue the same thought I mentioned above about us being in 2025, and some of the terrible stuff we’ve done in the past as humans continues to happen somehow… “same play, different cast”.
Musically, some of the melodies Maarten added really elevated this one and gave it more depth, if you know what I mean. The final true transformation from the early demos came with Gus’ vocals, to be honest. It really turned it into a totally different song.
That middle Iron Maiden-y part wasn’t there at the beginning. Peter and I went back and forth with it, and we ended up liking what came up in the end, so we left it in there. I feel it gives it a nice contrast. Again, those underlying melodies and fills by Maarten gave it a different flavour. In terms of bass, I think this was the blueprint for me for the whole album: As opposed to our debut album, I decided to simplify and just play to the music, focus on the grooves, and play in the pocket. I really enjoyed that, to be honest.
Maarten: The solo at the beginning of the song just popped into my head as a nice filler over the heavy riffs. The solo idea is repeated later in the song. I added a riff on top of Peter’s riff and wondered if the rest of the band would like it. Since it’s still there, they probably did! :) The Maiden-y interlude lifts the song a bit, and I completed it with a similar idea to the intro solos.
Kike: This one barely changed from prepro. Jeff helped polish the chorus, but overall, it felt solid from the start. Cool riffs. Strong melodies. I liked it the second I heard it back.
Peter: The riffs in this song embody how I imagine “stoner metal” would sound. It’s fairly simple and laid back with a bit of a dark drone. I love what Gus did with this chorus. I think the melody is really moving. Maarten’s harmonized lead in the interlude is also a big highlight to me!
5. Exiles and Masters (featuring Jeff Henson):
Zigor: I have to agree with Peter on the Sabbath tribute, but me being the Sabbath freak that I am, I will add that this is more of a “later” Sabbath tribute. Lyrics are very personal, and I just love how Gus took what I’d written and made it his own, making it even more in your face. He knows the story, so he did a great job of portraying the emotion well.
Super groovy as well musically, and here you have Maarten all over the place too, which is a great example of what he’s brought to Thorndale. I am so happy I did the old bait and switch on him to join the band back in the day, ha ha!
Lastly, that guitar part Maarten does over the outro that ends up playing without any other instrument is one of my fave things on the album!
Maarten: With this song, I struggled to find a way to add something that would truly improve it. At first, I gave the feedback to keep it as it was. Later, I added some additional lines and a few harmonic fills—not too much, to avoid changing the song too much. I was asked to provide a solo for this track. The outro part came to me after listening to the song and playing along. I recorded three or four versions so we could choose the one that fit best. It’s great that they appreciated this part as much as I did.
Kike: I’ve always had a thing for slow, dark intros. This one had that vibe right away. It didn’t change much from the original version, but Marteen added some parts that gave it even more weight. Jeff told me again to add grit to the vocals. That move paid off.
Peter: I think this song is a Sabbath tribute through and through, from the riffing style to the non-linear progression and bluesy soloing. I’m very open about Tony Iommi’s influence on my playing, so it really isn’t a surprise. This might even be my favourite track on the album…
6. Battles Fought in Vain:
Zigor: If I remember correctly, this may have been the first riff written for the album, and yes, it also changed a lot. Another great example of depth added by Maarten here, and amazing how he could just step in and boom: add some powerful stuff to something that was already sounding good.
Perhaps one of the songs I had the most fun recording, I certainly enjoy the not-so-typical timing and just sticking to the groove while working with the drums. I think this is the sort of tune that leaves you hanging on the edge of your seat and brings you back over and over.
Maarten: Here, I added the intro melody, which repeats further down the song again and again. I felt I needed to contribute something extra to the riff with Peter’s distinctive timing, so I came up with additional guitar parts that pop up here and there to lift the riff even more. The bass really pushes the song forward. I love the “ohh” by Gus. Peter already had a solo in the song, and I added the call and response section at the beginning of the solo. I really enjoy the process of completing guitar parts this way.
Kike: We cleaned up the vocals a lot from the first version. Less clutter, more impact. I had fun recording the chorus. Simple, but it hits. Jeff helped bring out a little more soul in the delivery.
Peter: I have a natural tendency to mess around with awkward timing when I’m writing, and I think that shines through on the main riff here. You’ll notice that the riff resolves on the ‘1’ instead of restarting, which gives it a pretty cool vibe. All of this is balanced by a strong and concise chorus melody, which rounds the whole song out.
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