TAKE COVER EP ARRIVES APRIL 17TH VIA PIT VIPER RECORDS
Take Cover is a collection of the Orange County band’s hard to find cover songs recorded over the years that have never been available in a single collection. “Becoming” (Pantera), “Propaganda” (Sepultura), “London Dungeon” (Misfits), “Planets Collide” (Crowbar), and “Baby Got Back” (Sir Mix-A-Lot) are featured on this 5-song EP, which arrives on digital and streaming platforms on Friday.
Throwdown recently regained control of the master recordings of three of their albums: Haymaker (2003), Vendetta (2005), and Venom & Tears (2007), all of which are now available on Apple Music, Spotify, and elsewhere via their own, newly-founded Pit Viper Records. Venom & Tears features the group’s most-streamed song, “Holy Roller,” which has been played 1.4M times on Spotify. Six of the band’s Top 10 all-time most streamed songs appear on Deathless (2009), released via eOne. The Intolerance (2014) track “Fight Or Die,” on 2014’s Intolerance, makes an appearance at No. 14.
Detailed explanations about each cover song choice, from frontman Dave Peters, are below.
Metal Hammer declared, “Throwdown kick out the heaviest and most stomping metal… Proudly and defiantly keeping the memory (and sound) of Pantera alive and kicking.” Part of Revolver’s “Future of Metal” issue, Throwdown are veterans of Ozzfest and Warped Tour. They spent the early 2000s traveling the world with Lamb Of God, Killswitch Engage, Machine Head, Korn, and In Flames, as well as headlining runs like their own “Scum of the Earth” tour, with Soilwork as support.
“BECOMING” was first released as part of a tribute to late Pantera guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott, available only via Metal Hammer magazine in the UK, back in 2009. “PROPAGANDA” was an iTunes-only bonus track with Venom & Tears, outside North America. “LONDON DUNGEON” was part of a label sampler compilation in 2006. “PLANETS COLLIDE” was the B-side to the “Americana” single from Venom & Tears. “London Dungeon” and “Planets Collide” were also released together as a limited 7” single, Covered in Venom.
“BABY GOT BACK” is nearly 20 years old, from an early incarnation of Throwdown, featuring Peters on guitar instead of vocals.
Like every Throwdown release stretching back to their 2003 breakthrough Haymaker, the cover art for Take Cover was handled by Grammy-nominated artist Ryan Clark of Invisible Creature.
A preorder is live at the band’s official Bandcamp page, with an immediate download of “Planets Collide.” TAKE COVER will be available on all digital services for streaming and download on Friday.
THROWDOWN’S DAVE PETERS on TAKE COVER…
01. BECOMING (Pantera) – “Becoming” is one of the hardest Pantera tracks ever and one we were glad we could call dibs on early before any other bands (for the Dimebag tribute comp). We were honored to be a part of the tribute. It was 5 years after Dime’s death but I remember it still feeling really fresh for everyone. Needless to say, Dime and Pantera were a huge influence on me and the band’s music, and are even still. I listen to Pantera records like they came out this year and probably more than a lot of other records that did. I’ve been a fan for about 30 years, but not the one I wish I’d been, as I never got to see them live. I’m not big on regrets but that is one. There will never be another band like them.
02. PROPAGANDA (Sepultura) – Arise and Chaos AD were instrumental in shaping how I played guitar. “Dead Embryonic Cells” was one of the first songs I ever jammed with an actual drummer in 1992. It was fucking horrible. I sort of wanted to go for it again 25 years later, but Chaos AD and “Propaganda” were more the band’s speed, and the song was one we were unanimously stoked to cover. That session was sandwiched in between tours with both Soulfly (2005) and Cavalera Conspiracy (2008).
03. LONDON DUNGEON (The Misfits) – I was a Danzig fan before going back and getting into the Misfits maybe only 5 to 7 years before recording this cover. It was during the same session as Venom & Tears. It was a no-brainer as far as tweaking it to our own style and one that sounded cool in drop B. I couldn’t tell you why we landed on a Misfits cover specifically, but I know we didn’t want to give any original songs to our label at the time, beyond what was being recorded for the upcoming and last record with them. I’m pretty sure ours was the only cover on the comp. It got buried somewhere toward the end of the tracklisting.
04. PLANETS COLLIDE (Crowbar) – “Planets Collide” always seems to be a staple of a Crowbar set, and it more or less opens that album, so it’s not exactly a deep cut. But it was a little more toward the outer limits of what their general style was up to that record, and it’s one that resonated with a lot of people in spite of that too I think. Since Throwdown’s style was evolving and changing a lot at that time from Vendetta to Venom & Tears, I’d say that song resonated with us for that reason. We didn’t do a lot to try and make it our own if anything. I think there is a subtle guitar overlay with an e-bow over the main riff and a couple of different vocal inflections added, but that’s it. A lot like the Pantera cover that would come later, it was more about accuracy than anything else. I met Kirk the same year that we recorded it and mentioned to him that we had. He said “Oh I heard it” in a Nola accent and approving tone. I like to think he approved anyway, but he seems very nice too so he could’ve just been trying to avoid hurting my feelings.
05. BABY GOT BACK (Sir Mix-A-Lot) – We almost did House of Pain “Jump Around” and even learned and rehearsed it I think. I can’t remember why we opted for “Baby Got Back” instead, probably just because it was more ridiculous and we wanted to make sure no one took it seriously. I wouldn’t say anyone now who was in the band back then, including me, regrets having done this cover. But bands don’t really want to be known for a cover. A lot of people knew and know us for this cover, though, and it’s kind of fun really. I think 2 or 3 people at a fest in Belgium as recently as 2015 shouted it out between songs. Never fails. We played the song live probably less than ten times— once was at Hellfest in Upstate NY. A six-foot inflatable penis was passed around the crowd. And I feel like, as a band, that’s one of those things that you should aspire to achieve.