Review: “It Taketh” by Tyrannus

Coffee loving anti-fascists Tyrannus are a quintet hailing Scotland who confess to liking nothing more than creating Extreme Metal of the Blackened Death Metal variety with a captivating quality. While they are made up of Callum John Cant, Fraser Gordon, Alistair Harley and Alasdair Dunn, both “It Taketh” and the bands 2019 self titled debut could also be considered a solo project or at least masterminded by multi instrumentalist Callum John Cant, who with the assistance of percussionist Alasdair Dunn are the only musicans to appear on tape. In all fairness, “It Taketh” is a demo EP produced by the band and Caitlín Smith, a taster of work in progress for a 2022 releasing full length album and so should be judged on that basis and there is no doubt that the drum programming will be replaced with the real thing when the time comes…

…demo are always an intriguing listen, especially when compared to the final release, giving a great insight into the mind of the musicians and showing how the development of the material has come from a diamond in the rough. Sometimes they can be frustrating, especially when you hear something that sounds great on the demo that has been cut from the final offering but that’s all the more reason for wanting to hear the raw first draft. For Tyrannus, “It Taketh” is almost a stop gap release, something that could be used to gain not only interest but also support further down the line, the comparison not being to the forthcoming album but to the bands self titled debut EP. The development is as plain to see as a black eye upon a pale faced red head from the very start and particularly vocally. Callum John Cant has found new depths to his Gollum esq shrill vocals that have now become much more rounded and developed. The guitar work has also morphed somewhat with more emphasis placed on atmospheric development and black swirling moods. “The Flood” has a glorious solo that serves to build the track up from a melodic passage into a full on Black Metal rampage that is sublime. The drum programming from Alasdair Dunn is sympathetic and has a real feel to it so when it comes to recording the album it will be easily replicated and sound far less raw. “It Taketh” also includes a dark mid track moment of melody that slows things down before building them up once more through a transitional solo that is equally as good as the first, but it’s the change in vocal to some bog monster lows that steals the show. Eerie haunting instrumental “Lake of the Undying” then surfaces, an entirely different beast and one that sounds like it belongs to a classic 80’s Horror film score. It sounds unfinished, cutting short before it reached a gargantuan crescendo to match the classic shower curtain scene of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho that it threatens to create but as with the rest, it’s plain to see the potential it has in abundance. If this is just the appetiser then the main course should be dynamite [7.5/10]

Track listing

  1. The Flood
  2. It Taketh
  3. Lake of the Undying

It Taketh” by Tyrannus is out now and available over at bandcamp.

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