Review Summary: Your resident taskmaster is here.
What exactly is “death metal revival?” I mean, did the genre itself actually die? I don’t remember hearing last rites, rushed calls to get to a hospice bed or the screams of the genre as it went down, guns blazing, plumes of smoke rising from a battlefield… No death metal didn’t really die, but there is a sect committed to its revival. Do these angels of…
death mean that the quality has died? If so, no-one (and I mean no-one) has told the endless bands of the last ten, twenty or thirty years. They’re still out there, drilling away at their drum kits, tormenting twisted riffs and glorifying growled vocals. Beastly death metal albums are hitting streaming platforms everywhere. Revival? My slightly larger right testi says the genre doesn’t need it.
That brings us to the Finnish-born, Tormentor Tyrant and their January released self-titled EP. While I’m normally the reviewer to disregard the sales pitch born from the presser that frequents my inbox, I can’t help but bring to attention the liberal mentions of Deicide and references to a scene reminiscent of the late 80s and early 90s. Call it presumptuous, call it snobbery—but bands born at the start of this decade could lean a little less on the forebears of the genre, piggybacking on the successes of groups known for earmarking what would eventually be known as the genre’s staple sounds. The term “old-school” is used just a little too loosely in modern death metal and
Tormentor Tyrant could actually do without it.
This has mostly to do with the group’s use of tone. While I do recognise that Tormentor Tyrant’s EP sits in a sonic threshold of Slayer-esque studio values (forgive the lazy thrash metal reference if you can), most of the EP’s make-up sits in a wish-wash portrait of simplicity. Rough shouts growl over blasting, mid-paced (by death metal’s standard) beats. It works. It’s like a hammer, no ornamentation, no fancy handle—just nails to be bludgeoned into an awaiting frame.
Tormentor Tyrant simply exists to be what it is and nothing more. Approachable riffs and constant percussion progressions, combined in a manner that defines just why violence and riffs go hand in hand, knuckles blazing.
Providing a summation of the EP at hand, I’ve left to wonder how I’ve got this far without mentioning a single track. I realise however, the single parts of this aren’t important. Neither is there any use itemising each and every riff, influence (or lack thereof), just to provide some insight as to why
Tormentor Tyrant should have praise heaped upon it. This
tormentor simply exists to carry a torch forwards, swiping away at those who would discredit a scene for not submitting to a prerequisite of “old-school” sensibilities. Maybe death metal doesn’t need a revival, but there will always be tyrants…
