Tyrant

It is true that releases formed by the imagination of a single person means they have full control over artistic and musical direction. Notable entries of this are Xasthur (US), Burzum and Nargaroth (for studio output). However it is also true that the input of various band members towards an album is also of significant benefit. “Tyrant” is Thomas’s second full length album and the main difference here is Thomas sitting behind a kit and doing the drum work himself, instead of programming it.

This release resides in the black metal field but is neither fast nor aggressive. Tyrant contains seven tracks of brooding and very dark metal, not too dissimilar to that of early Katatonia, with harsh vocals and sorrowful melodies. The misery starts with “To Death Arms”, the longest song and one of the more upbeat and appealing tracks on this release. The guitar work is catchy and whilst not exactly memorable there is enough variation in each song to keep the listener occupied throughout. Some of the songs lose part of their appealing moroseness when blasts are introduced as on “Soldier of the Damned”. The blasts are short lived however and we’re very quickly back into the eeriness of “Dalia” with its droning start and deliberate beat that truly reflects the early Katatonia style sound in the songs overall. Many of the tracks show cursory glances to later more plodding Immortal material, Burzum during the mournful and sombre aspects and Thy Serpent in the melodies of the songs. Highlight track has to be “A Dagger Right in Your Heart” which is aggressive, menacing and atmospheric and contains some of the best guitar work.

Vocally Thomas sounds like a less violent Shagrath (Dimmu Borgir) with occasional touches of death metal vocals without being too guttural. There’s no doubt that Thomas has considerable talent and is able to pen a good tune or two. There needs to be improvements in the drum work as it is very unadventurous and strained during the faster parts. The introduction of a decent session drummer could be the answer here. Thomas has attempted to create an atmospheric album with dark, twisting melodies to envelop the listener. However I wouldn’t really say this is true black metal as it lacks the aggression and impact required of that genre. This is a sound release with quality songs, decent production and a certain amount of groove to grab the listener.