Review: “The Art Of A Maniac” by Tymo

Pinky: “Gee, Brain, what do you want to do tonight?” ; Brain: “The same thing we do every night, Pinky – try to take over the world!”

After 2020 brought any plans they might have had to play more shows around their 2017 debut album “Purge & Reset“, Tymo entered the studio and continued to work on their sophomore album with 2019 single “Sanity Clause” as the foundation. The aim was simple. Create a record that could open the door to World domination for years to come, allowing them to play to audiences far and wide in nations far, far away from their native Edmonton Canada. Having gained the experience of touring with fellow Thrash revivalists  Hazzerd and WMD as well as performing at a myriad of festivals, who can blame Tim Tymo as the lead guitarist and vocalist, Nick Schwartz on rhythm guitar, Harlen Jacobs on bass and Marc Durie on drums for wanting to become Thrash Gods?

In the World of Tymo there is no holding back and no time to waste as scores are settled and riffs fly like bullets with deadly accuracy, leaving no place to hide and no time to run for cover. The fretboard smoking Speed Thrash attack begins with instrumental “Tymonicide“, the conjoined twin of “Sanity Clause” as together like Butch Cassidy and the Sun Dance Kid they blast their way out of the record and into your unsuspecting ear drums. Standing still isn’t an option, headbanging is essential, horns must be raised to salute the four horsemen of the apocalypse as they return. Lyrically while “The Art Of A Maniac” isn’t considered a concept album there is a narrative of chaos and destruction that runs through the albums very heart as Tymo himself rants and raves about things like substance abuse, mental illness and alien invasion, all the while putting a modern style on the delivery you would expect from a San Francisco bay area Thrash act circa 1987. The whammy bar drop solo at the end of the anthemic old school Exodus like “Mars Attacks” is the chef’s kiss that flows from one unrelenting rampage to another in “Estrogenocide” which itself has a blistering solo to savour. The transitions are slick, the speed is breakneck and everything has groove and gallop and compared with the bands previous album, this is streets ahead; a runaway train leaving behind a trail of flames and destruction as you wonder what you just heard. It’s more focused, more developed and more well rounded, if “Purge and Reset” was a blunt force trauma then “The Art Of a Maniac” is the razor sharp blade.

Both “Age Of Deception” and the breathless “The Roy Parson Project” keep things fresh with a couple of funky bass drives from Harlen Jacobs thrown down for good measure while both take on the subject of how technology is destroying the fabric of humanity from different angles while clearly being inspired by the first couple of Megadeth records. The vocal layering on “War Beneath The Skull” is masterfully done, giving a split personality trade off between unclean and clean vocals as if Tymo is fighting himself inside his head, the lyrics coming full circle to the angry, fast and straight to the face “Sanity Clause“. It maybe groovier and have some technically more progressive riffage but it has exactly the same lightening energy and breakneck pace; the quartet know nothing else, they can not play anything that isn’t fast, loud and Thrash. If it’s not explosive, it’s not on the agenda, it’s as simple as that. The album ends with the kind of party anthem that Municipal Waste are known for in “Alcoholocaust“, a tale of drunken debauchery that everyone can relate to and in that enhance the fun factor that this album has tenfold. The musicianship it top notch throughout so that only leaves us to say one thing: Welcome to the dawn of a new age. The age of Tymo. [8.5/10]

Track listing

1. Tymonicide (2:55)
2. Sanity Clause (2:54)
3. Mars Attacks (3:44)
4. Estrogenocide (4:11)
5. Age Of Deception (2:42)
6. The Roy Parson Project (3:10)
7. War Beneath The Skull (4:12)
8. The Art Of A Maniac (3:41)
9. Alcoholocaust (4:32)

“The Art Of A Maniac” by Tymo is out 5th February 2022 and is available for pre-order via bandcamp.