You might recall that I wrote about Tyrannus‘ demo over on Flash of the Blade a few months ago. The band exemplified the type of music I write about in that column, namely ultra-caustic, thrash and heavy metal inflected black metal. They’re also anti-fascists which is always a great bonus to an already great sounding band. Well, Tyrannus are now gearing up for their full-length, debut release titled Unslayable and let me tell you, the ante has been upped in every single way. You can hear exactly how they’ve done it, without losing any of their edge by the way, by checking out the new track “A Worse Reality” down below. Trust me, you’re going to want to hit play on this one.
“Oh baby” is exactly what I said when the main guitar lead on the track veritably exploded into a massive solo around the three minutes and ten seconds mark, shredding the inside of my brain instantly. There’s something so satisfying about the way Tyrannus meld heavy metal moments like that and balance them so well with the black metal underpinnings that keep their engine pumping. The production has improved markedly on this release but that kind of balance allows the band to maintain their razor-sharp edge and compromise nothing in their pursuit of vicious, cold, and grandiose black metal. I don’t make these comparisons often, but I’m as excited for this release as another Epectase or In Human Form release and if you don’t who these people are or why the comparison is so rare, then please go and correct that immediately.
Just in case you’re not sold by the idea of blistering black metal and high-octane heavy metal spliced together, let me point out that Unslayable is also a Lovecraftian, anti-fascist concept album. Callum John Cant, vocalist/guitarist comments:
“‘Worse Reality’ is both the first chapter and the summary of our debut album, ‘Unslayable.’ Lyrically, it states the obvious of the bleak and dark future we are now living within and our willful collective ignorance to the suffering and those the few who benefit greatly from it. Musically, it takes a lot of inspiration from Death and Carcass but mixed with a post-black metal feel. Overall, ‘Worse Reality’ serves a purpose of introducing our album ‘Unslayable’ to the world.”
Come on, what’s not to like here? Unslayable drops on April 22nd and you should keep your eyes on the band’s Bandcamp for a pre-order.