Beats and yelling: Tyrannus

MournholdOut 15th May on True Cult Records Following a promising debut that stitched a foggy haze of thrash and melodic death metal with a thread of black metal, Tyrannus push this loose alliance to breaking point and gamble it all on the second album. Approaching ‘Mournhold’ is akin to taking the first few sips of a dubious pint of craft beer. Has the incongruous flavour concoction paid off as advertised? How does the sensation progress from the initial burst of flavour on the tongue to the deep undertones of its aftertaste? Judgement hangs by a thread as the intellect catches up with the gut. Two or three pints in it becomes a little clearer what Tyrannus are up to. Despite the riff demographic being a near three way split between thrash, death, and black metal, this is best approached as a thrash album. But similar to the recent crop of Chilean thrash in Critical Defiance, Demoniac, and Mayhemic, the lasting impression is anything but one of pastiche. There is a refreshing honesty…