Grimoires

Okay, there might be a lot of metal bands naming themselves "Tyrant", but we're talking about the Japanese symphonic black metal band. Though officially active, this work seems to be their last album, alright. Oh well, you guys got to know what this sounds like so let me tell you.

First things first, their style of symphonic black metal really is keyboard-laden (yeah, quite my cup of tea), with the guitars often blending in with the symphonies.Compared to their previous albums, the vocals in this album, "Grimoires", have a sudden change, with the present vocals being deeper than their previous releases. Generally, the music really has an eerie touch in it, which could make it sound like a Castlevania soundtrack, with more symphonies and guitar solos.

There are a lot of okay and good songs here, like "Fallen Angel of Plague" and "Bell, Book and Candle" but the real fun starts with "Thy Night Queen, Hecate". The song has much appeal, even from the start. With almost 7 minutes of symphonic fury, you will hear the drums pummel with inevitable fury with the keyboards playing eerie symphonies. Besides, it sounds different than the other songs. "Babylon, the Great" has a very eerie atmosphere, with a lot of keyboards. Another eerie song worth a mention is "Rebirth of Old Serpent", which is like a constant freezing breeze (quite cold and pure too). The digipack bonus track, "Only the Moon Knows", really sounds different from the other songs, for being far more melancholic than eerie."Despite the difference, the song manages to sound like the album's epilogue, even though the album is devoid of raspy vocals.

Although a good album of its own right, it poses two problems. First, the number of highlights. there might me a lot of okay and good songs here just like what I've said but there are only a few excellent songs were that are worth a mention, although it doesn't mean that those okay (and good) songs will just waste your time. it's just that they should have made each song with more quality in it. Another thing is that the songs seem to follow a certain formula, making them sound quite alike.

It still wonders me why haven't they made any material for a long time, since their music is such a rare breed, if you ask me.It's definitely not that minimalistic in nature, since the songs have guitar solos here and there. Just sit back, relax and listen to this macabre of a music!

Originally made for http://mystifymyserie.blogspot.com

I've never heard of this band before, they are from Japan and play "Symphonic Black Metal". This means mostly mid-paced keyboard-driven songs with scream vocals. Tyrants music reminds me of Dimmu Borgir but more symphonic, even more symphonic then what Dimmu Borgir became, and not as harsh as Dimmu Borgir was. This is not the kind of music that I normally listen to, but if you are into the more melodic, keyboard overdose Black Metal this album should most certainly suit you. The main problem I got with this album is the overuse of keyboards, sure I can accept them in small doses, but Tyrant uses them to much. Much of the music seems to be built up around the keyboards and all the other instruments are put in the far background, even the guitar and this is a shame considering that the guitar-player is not a total fucktard, and some of the riffs are excellent. Tyrant seems not to have realised that just because the music is supposed to be "symphonic" and "melodic" it does not mean that every songs should be built up around the keyboard. Sometimes the guitar takes centre-stage and then the music improves. Another problem this album is plagued with is the similar sounding songs; they all seem to be built after the same mould just with different lyrics and half varied riffs, and since this album is well over 60 minutes the CD gets boring. On the plus side there are the instrumental interludes which are not that bad. A little ambient break with just the keyboard can be quite nice and entertaining as long as there aren't too many.
The most positive thing about this record is the fact that Tyrant actually seems to speak English and actually have some basic understanding of the language. The case with most Japanese bands (This is also true with most Asian bands in general) is that they write the lyrics in Japanese then they take a Japanese to English dictionary and translate the lyrics, word for word, often resulting in humorous lyrics with very strange grammatical structure and wording.
If you like Symphonic Black Metal this should probably interest you, it's not excellent but it's not bad, just bland.

Originally written for: http://minacious.cjb.net