It would be very easy to dismiss this release as just another album worshipping the Swedish death metal sound of the late 80’ and early 90’s, and I almost did when I first started listening. All the standard influences are on display
here; Entombed, Dismember and Nihilist etc., however on repeated listens there are a few more ideas appearing on the album that suggest other influences. There are a few songs that have some clean vocal parts, a move that has often upset death metal fans. Some of the clean sung lines work better than others but on the whole I find it adds to the album quite nicely. There are also a few doomy sections spread throughout the album which although hardly an unheard of addition to death metal does add variety. Not to forget the occasional vibe of good old traditional heavy metal and classic rock that drift into the sound on occasion. These different influences for the most part sit side by side really well although very few of the transitions between riffs/styles/tempos are a little clumsy.
Lyrically Tyrant’s Kall are very obviously inspired by HP Lovecraft which is hardly unheard of in death metal but does work very well with the doom/death hybrid and the ominous sound that the band creates at times. I’ll be very interested in what the band manages to come up with for their next release. In this release they to my ears very much still under the shadow of bands like Krypts and Puteraeon who do the old school death with doom influences and an obsession with HP Lovecraft very well. However Tyrant’s Kall have a few other tricks up their sleeve, and with a real focus on song writing and pushing their music just a little bit further for the next release could produce something really great. The two longest songs are my favourite and give the doom riffs time to ooze the menace that they should and build up into the more aggressive death metal riffs. This album is being pressed on vinyl by Witches Brew and I want a copy.