Songfacts®:

• Act of Defiance is an American heavy metal supergroup formed in 2014 by by ex Scar the Martyr vocalist Henry Derek Bonner, former Megadeth members Chris Broderick (guitar) and Shawn Drover (drums), and Shadows Fall bassist Matt Bachand. This is the lead single from their debut album, Birth and the Burial.
• The track was mainly written by Chris Broderick. He explained the story of the song: "'Throwback' came about through the influence of great thrash players such as Kerry King (Slayer) and Rob Cavestany (Death Angel)," he said. "They gave me the inspiration to write a tear your head off, insanely fast rhythm. From there it progressed as I wrote, into a song that doesn't only have elements of thrash but everything in between with elements of progressive, and groove."
  
  "I never expected 'Throwback' to be the first release off the CD, as it's not commercial, doesn't follow a typical verse, chorus, solo scheme, and is almost six minutes long," Broderick added. "However, when you hear the fire, emotion and brutality of the song, it becomes very clear that it was a contender to show people what Act of Defiance is really about."
• Shawn Drover said of the song: "'Throwback' is not your average speed/thrash metal tune. The song is also pretty progressive at times with a lot of stopping and starting going into the bridge and they are all at different times, so we really had to memorize the count."
  
  "I was really impressed with the way Chris wanted to write a little bit out of the box, shall we say. Chris also wrote all of the lyrics for the song, which were also impressive to me. They are certainly dark in the subject matter, as they should be to fit the aggressiveness of the song. Quite a nice fit if you ask me."
• The song's music video was directed by Corey Soria, whose other credits include the clip for Hollywood Undead's 2013 single "Dead Bite." Drover said: "Making the video in LA for 'Throwback' with Corey was the easiest and most focused video shoot I have ever been a part of. The concept was very 'old school metal' In nature with just smoke, lights, the band and METAL! What a concept. We all shared the common vision of just being a metal band captured on film and Corey got it right away. Corey and his entire crew were a sheer joy to work with."