Wild Throne consists of friends and musical cohorts Joshua Holland (guitar/vocals), Noah Burns (drums) and Jeff Johnson (bass). The trio spent 10 years playing in bands with and around each other in their hometown of Bellingham, Wash. before unifying in 2009 with a mission to hit hard. The band’s progress in the early days of this pursuit has been documented on two vinyl EPs: 2011’s Boss Rhino EP and 2012’s Brass Tactics. The band’s sound is a sprawling mix of elements from Judas Priest, Mastodon, Queen, the Mars Volta, classic metal, thrash and progressive rock, creating music that Pitchfork once described as “exhilarating, fun [and] ferocious” and “proof that ambition and skill don’t automatically cancel out heart.”