Review: Tyranize – Remnants of Society

Tyranize are a band I originally found rather randomly at the start of the year and featured as Band of the Day. They are a five-piece from New York state who play “plague metal”, their own sickening strain of death metal.

The band were kind enough to mail me a copy of their new album recently, so the least I could do in return is to pop up a few words about it. I’m sure they’ll be glad to know they’ll be good ones!

First up, there’s simply no holds barred on this album. It’s hard, heavy, brutal. I’d say if I was to put it in a more traditional pigeon-hole it’d be borderline technical death, as it features some staccato “widdly” guitar, which is first noticeable on “The Product of Disfigurement”. This doesn’t really cover all the tracks, though. Others are widdle-free (is that a term? Is now).

There are eleven tracks on here and there’s a good variety across them. “Flesh Soufflé”, probably y favourite title, has some lovely slow sequences and layered vocals which add some real depth to the overall sound. Just here and there and not overused. Vocal styles vary from grunts to screams to the more guttural.

Credit has to be given to Ed on drums who really bashes fuck out of the skins on all the tracks, and the production is good enough to hear Morgan’s bass pretty clearly. I think it’s just me, but I often simply can’t hear bass guitar on a lot of recordings – it’s cool when I can make it out.

To stand out in an overcrowded field is a difficult task, but Tyranize deserve to do so on the strength of this album. They’ve been working hard for a few years now to get this thing out there, so if you get a chance to pick it up I’d recommend it.

Stand-out tracks… well, “Flesh Soufflé” definitely, and also “Blasphemer”. It’s got a great driving rhythm, especially around the 2:30 mark, followed by a brilliant thirty seconds or so that wouldn’t be out of place on a Death album. Check out the title track below for some idea of what to expect.

The album’s been out for almost exactly a month now and you can get a CD from a band member. For those not native to NY, I’m sure they’ll work out the postage and send you a copy if you ask nicely enough via their facebook page!

UPDATE: Now available online for download @ Itunes, Amazon, Google Play – and here – http://www.7digital.com/artist/tyranize/release/remnants-of-society-explicit.

Oh, incidentally, hats off to the graphic designers that came up with the artwork and inlay. Love it!

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