Throwdown has always and will always be a band for our fans before anyone else.

So it is with great regret that we find ourselves in a situation where we are left with no alternative but to air out years of dirty laundry with Josh Grabelle of Trustkill Records for our fans to read and become as disappointed by as we are.

Several months ago we were forced to send Trustkill Records a "breach of contract" notice (despite the legal fees involved for us with such action) and our "breach of contract" was not cured within the 30 days legally allotted. Trustkill has been in this current breach with Throwdown (it's not the first time) since March 31, 2008. By his own accounting, Josh currently owes the band tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid royalties for CDs sold. We have not once in the history of our relationship with the label received a royalty payment on time. And now that our three album contract with him is fulfilled, we are not hopeful that will change. Read more...

Orange County, California hardcore metal band, Throwdown, are in the studio with producer Mudrock (Godsmack, Avenged Sevenfold) working on their new album Venom and Tears, which is due in late spring.

"His friends call him ‘Mud,' but let's be honest. A dude with a name like that doesn't have a ton of friends," jokes the band on its Website. "We, however, love the guy and are excited to 'cut a record,' as they say.'

Demonstrating they'd be equally good at straight edge comedy, Throwdown adds, "I dunno if ‘they' really say that anymore or who ‘they' even are, really. [But] we're pretty sure he's excited too, so we don't have to worry about him playing Nintendo in the middle of tracking."

Throwdown first worked with Mudrock on covers of Misfits and Crowbar songs they recorded after their 2005 disc, Vendetta, and enjoyed the process so much, they asked him if he wanted to work on the new album.

"He showed the most interest out of all the people we had conversations with," singer Dave Peters tells headbangersblog.mtv.com. " He was really excited, which kind of surprised us because he doesn't work with bands that are as heavy as us."

The new Throwdown album will be as vicious as the band's past slabs, says Peters, but will offer new elements as well. "A lot of the songs bring out a different feeling than just anger," he says. "We tried to explain that dichotomy with the album title, Venom and Tears."

While some old-school fans may scream, ‘foul,' and look for someone to pick a fight with, Peters says the development was necessary to keep Throwdown inspired. "We've been a band going on a decade, and we wanted to try some new things, so that's what we did," he says. "We know what our fans appreciate, but we never want to put the same record out twice. So, there will definitely be some surprises for kids. Like, ‘Whoa, I didn't know their guitar player' could do that. But at the end of the day, it's still a Throwdown record."

Check out the video for "Burn" :