Blood of the Tyrant -
Blood of the Tyrant EP
Reviewed by Andy "Dinger" Beresky (StonerRock.com)
Self Released
Available Now
Blood of the Tyrant hail from Chicago, a city known for its thriving doom scene. However, Blood of the Tyrant aren't doing the low and slow. They're more in the vein of Mastodon and Baroness, but still have the raw metallic intensity of those bands' earlier works. That's a good thing, as this is definitely a band to watch if you're into that sort of thing, and for those who miss the Remission sound, this is gonna be right up your alley.
What you're getting here are four songs, the first of which, "Flaw of the Sentient Being", hits you right off the bat with a melodic metal riff, before the second guitar comes in with the harmony. You know what you're in for if you're at all familiar with the bands I've already named dropped, it's the winding "labyrinthine" guitar sound I often use to describe this s t y l e. Things get more interesting with the deep, blues inflected grooves of the next two tracks, and with the third track, "Helena", you'll indeed hear some clean vocal lines that are dead on Baroness worship interspersed with the deeper, more gruff vocals. The extended guitar solo section and acoustic outro make this the EP's standout track. The final tracks is an instrumental which showcases the band's talent for clever arrangements.
The one influence that I clearly hear that the band don't mention is Corrosion of Conformity, especially on the more blues/stoner riffs that manage to maintain their metal edge, much the way mid to late period C.O.C. was able to pull this off. You can also pick up some hints of southern metal in the phrasing of the solos.
Overall, Blood of the Tyrant doesn't have as much indie influence as Baroness or as much prog influence as Mastodon, despite some of the bands they name-check (I'm still trying to figure out where the Goblin/Zombi influence ties in). It's mostly about mean riffs and gut punch arrangements with a few tricks here and there to keep things interesting, and that's A-OK in my book...
URL: http://www.myspace.com/bloodofthetyrant
