Thorndale play heavy, slow, groove-driven metal. The name dates from 2021, but the band goes back further than that, to friendships and earlier projects spread over several countries.

How it started

Colombian singer Gustavo "Gus" Valderrama and Basque bassist Zigor Munoz first played together in Singapore, in a band called Adarrak. They had the same taste in old heavy metal: Sabbath, Priest, early Alice in Chains. A lot of nights went into sitting with records and pulling them apart track by track. Both of them wanted to do something simpler and more riff-driven together at some point.

Also while in Singapore, Zigor met Canadian guitarist Peter Shannon through Peter's band Primal Charge. He liked Peter's writing and his tone, so he asked if he wanted to write some songs. There was no plan beyond that. They wanted to hear what happened when old-school heavy metal met slower, doomier, more stoner tempos. Riff files went back and forth. Demos got tracked in living rooms and small studios. The band had no name yet, but that's where Thorndale started.

Gus came in with a goal of his own. He wanted to sing more and use his whole range instead of spending every song in what he calls "metal beast mode." That ended up shaping the band. He can still roar when a song needs it. Most of the time, though, he goes for a melodic line that sits on top of the guitars.

The line-up

Thorndale formed officially in Singapore in 2021 around Gus, Peter and Zigor. All three left Singapore in 2022, and Maarten Jungschläger joined on second guitar once the band had settled in Europe.

Gustavo Valderrama: vocals (Killing Darlings, Headcrusher, Adarrak)
Peter Shannon: guitars (Primal Charge)
Maarten Jungschläger: guitars (Embers of Oblivion, Epinikion)
Zigor Munoz: bass (Adarrak, Ferkaad, El Muerto)

Australian drummer Rob Stone has played on both records as a guest. Parts get recorded in different countries and passed around until everyone agrees a song is heavy enough.

The band call what they do heavy/doom/stoner metal and rock. That's fair, though the records cover more ground than the label suggests. Reviewers have heard Pantera, Lamb of God, Black Sabbath and Crowbar in the early songs, along with some NOLA sludge and a bit of progressive riffing. What holds it together is blues-based heavy metal, the line you can follow from Sabbath through to Zakk Wylde.

Peter says he isn't trying to stand out for the sake of it. He wants to write good songs that move people. Zigor says his influences are too many to list, anything from Sabbath to Brutal Truth, but in Thorndale it's usually the older, bluesier side that comes through.

Lightning Spawn (2024)

The debut album, Lightning Spawn, came out in late February 2024. Dan Swanö mixed and mastered it at Unisound in Örebro, Sweden. If you're into extreme or progressive metal you'll know the name. He's worked with Opeth, Katatonia and Dissection, among plenty of others. His mix handles the thick, low-tuned guitars and big drums without losing the detail. You can hear the bass moving under the riffs, the guitars locking together or pulling apart, and the character in Gus's voice.

Andy LaRocque, King Diamond's longtime guitarist, plays a guest solo on "Ain't the End of My Rope." It was already one of the stronger songs on the album and his lead lifts it further. Reviewers picked up on it. One noted that LaRocque guests on a lot of records these days and still manages to bring "shining moments."

Costin Chioreanu did the cover art.

The album moves between traditional doom, classic heavy metal and groovy, stoner-leaning riffs. For a first record it sounds like a band that knew what it wanted, and chose the people around it with that in mind.

Spiritual Chains (2025)

The second album, Spiritual Chains, came out on September 12, 2025. The press materials called it "a monumental step forward in stoner/doom metal." The songwriting is more confident and the production goes further.

Tracklist:
1. Veins of the Phoenix
2. Battles Fought in Vain
3. Gods of Pain
4. Twenty Thousand Souls
5. Spiritual Chains
6. Exiles and Masters

"Veins of the Phoenix" was the first single and got a video. Some reviewers heard late-'90s and early-2000s melodic death metal in the main riff, under a thick groove-metal production. "Gods of Pain" followed with its own video. The press notes pointed to it as a good example of how the band balance stoner and groove, and of how their choruses stick.

The album was recorded over 2024 and 2025 in Austin, Texas; Scarborough, Ontario; and Haarlem and Den Haag in the Netherlands. Rickard Bengtsson and Staffan Karlsson mixed and mastered it at Sweetspot Studios in Halmstad, Sweden. They've worked with Arch Enemy and Spiritual Beggars.

This was the first record with Maarten as a full member, so it's the first time Thorndale worked as a real two-guitar band. The mix gives his parts room. There are layered harmonies, riffs that answer each other, and overdubs that wouldn't have been practical on the debut. It's heavy, but every instrument has its own space, the bass especially.

Jeff Henson of the American heavy rock band Duel plays a solo on the closing track, "Exiles and Masters." It has an almost psychedelic feel. Rob Stone is back on drums, and Costin Chioreanu did the cover again.

Gus and Zigor wrote all the lyrics. The songs deal with cycles of violence, inner struggles, the weight of history, and the pull between exile and belonging. The press notes describe a record that "speaks to and reminds us of humanity's accursed frailty." The band take those themes seriously.

Sound

The tagline, Groove Forged Riffs from the Lowlands, sums it up pretty well. Thorndale are a stoner/doom band with heavy metal at the core and a lot of groove.

There are progressive touches too. Odd rhythmic accents, songs that change shape as they go, some wide, almost cinematic passages. Peter lists Devin Townsend, Dream Theater, Jinjer, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Children of Bodom, Eluveitie and Epica among his influences. Thorndale don't sound much like any of them. What carries over is a willingness to let songs breathe and try things.

Zigor's bass holds down the low end with a lot of swing. One collaborator said he has "a really strong groove," and that he brings his own ideas and style as well as technique. Gus often sings slightly behind the beat, which gives the choruses a loose, human feel. Plenty of metal these days is quantised to death, so that stands out.

None of them are out to reinvent the genre. They grew up on a certain kind of heavy song and want to write their own, using what they've learned along the way, including from working with Swanö, LaRocque, Bengtsson and Karlsson.

Thorndale today

Between them, the four have played in bands in the Netherlands, Canada, Colombia, Singapore and elsewhere. Gus in Headcrusher and Killing Darlings, Peter in Primal Charge, Maarten in Embers of Oblivion and Epinikion, Zigor in Adarrak, Ferkaad and El Muerto. Those connections helped the band find listeners fast. By the time Spiritual Chains came out they'd been covered by The Obelisk, Metal Devastation Radio, Antichrist Magazine and a number of doom, sludge and stoner blogs.

Writers tend to see Thorndale as a natural fit for the stoner/doom tradition, and as a band that pushes against it enough to be worth noticing. Lightning Spawn was praised for mixing modern aggression with classic heavy metal. Spiritual Chains was received as the darker and more ambitious record, the one that made good on the debut.

Formed in 2021, first album in 2024, second in 2025. That looks fast from the outside. It rests on years of friendships, shared records and time spent in other bands.