Tyrant - Reclaim The Flame   

Paying tribute to the old days

Sweden's Tyrant have made every effort to “go back to the roots” on their debut album, Reclaim The Flame. The statement “back to the roots” alludes to bands such as Venom and Bathory but I have to say that Tyrant reminds me more of a cross between Wolverine Blues era Entombed and Like An Ever Flowing Stream era Dismember, which is certainly not a bad mix by any standard.

The production is the first thing that you will notice when you hear Reclaim The Flame for the first time. It features a rough and abrasive tone courtesy of heavily distorted and bottom-heavy guitars with the bass guitar quite high in the mix as well. There is no doubt that this sound works for the band. In many ways it is more important than the music itself because of the ugly feel it gives the listener.

After a handful of listens I can't help but think that the band might be trying a little too hard to sound old school. As the album begins to sink in to your subconscious the production begins to sound more like an obvious attempt at a faux rehearsal session with several of the songs featuring fingers running down strings or coughing before the music actually starts. Some of the ugliness dissipates when this realisation is made and the album becomes a little more tongue-in-cheek.

The music itself seems to have been a secondary consideration for the band with most of the songs being clearly forged from the same mould. There is basically one singular idea that has been played with a number of times to create enough material for ten complete songs. Though this would likely spell disaster for 99% of bands it actually works quite well for Tyrant. They weren't attempting to write music that pushes any boundaries with Reclaim The Flame; it is all about the feel and the atmosphere, and in that sense they have excelled.

The problem with focussing much of their attention on getting the feel of the album right is that even in the relatively short space of 28 minutes, a singular musical approach gets stale. After a few listens it becomes easier and easier to get a quick fix from three or four songs rather than listening to the album in its entirety.

I realise that I sound quite negative about this album but the truth is that it is a lot of fun and I enjoy it a lot. It is an ugly and dirty foot tapping and head nodding experience. It's just that after a while it really needs to be experienced in small doses.

Whether Reclaim The Flame is a return to the old days of black metal is open for debate, but one thing is for sure, there is a hell of a lot of enjoyment to be had from it. When it comes down to it, isn't this the most important thing?

(Listenable Records/Stomp Distribution)