Up-and-coming thrash metal outfit Phantom unleashed its latest album, Tyrants of Wrath, to the masses Friday through independent record label High Roller Records. Spanning 11 songs, the band’s sophomore alum (and third studio recording overall) is a work that any metal purist will find worth hearing. That is due in no small part to its featured musical arrangements, which will be addressed shortly. The album’s lyrical themes build on the foundation established by the musical arrangements and ensure listeners’ engagement further. This will be discussed a little later. The record’s sequencing rounds out its most important elements, ensuring each musician’s performance is balanced with the work of his band mates. It will also be discussed later. Each item noted is key in its own way to the whole of the album’s presentation. All things considered they make Tyrants of Wrath a welcome addition to this year’s field of new hard rock and metal albums.
Tyrants of Wrath, the brand-new sophomore album from Phantom, is a work that any metal purist will find worth hearing at least once. The record’s appeal comes in part through its featured musical arrangements. Throught the course of its roughly 47-minute body, the arrangements lean heavily on classic Slayer influence. However at points there are some changes. Case in point is the album’s second entry, ‘The Tower of Seth.’ The song opens with a riff that conjures thoughts of vintage Metallica and Megadeth. From there, the song launches into that noted full-on homage to vintage Slayer. ‘Thunderbeast,’ the album’s very next entry opens with a tiff that immediately leans in the classic Eddie Van Halen style before going back into that Slayer-esque approach. ‘Nocturnal Opus 666’ is another interesting change of style. This fully instrumental composition is a solo piano work. The mysterious sound and style makes it sound like something one might expect to hear in a vintage silent film, such as Cat and the Canary. When the songs noted here are combined with the rest of the record’s entries, the whole therein makes for a strong foundation for Tyrants of Wrath.
Building on the foundation established by the musical arrangements is the lyrical content that accompanies said material. Throughout the course of the record, the lyrical themes range from fantasy type things that sound like something right out of a Dungeons and Dragons game to more introspective material while still having that fantasy lean. Interestingly enough, front man JC Mecrohex said of the songs’ lyrical themes, are “mainly vampires, castles, warriors, death, axes, swords.” That is evident throughout the course of the record as there are songs about hordes of warriors fighting (‘Violent Invasion’), a person going to the underworld (‘Nazghul’) and even some general horror (‘Dance of the Spiders’). Those songs and the likes of ‘The Tower of Seth’ all fit the noted themes. At the same time audiences could argue that ‘Thunderbeast’ for instance could double as a commentary about warfare while ‘Nimbus’ is one of those empowering pieces reminding people to not give up. Looking at all of this and the rest of the album’s lyrical themes, the whole therein makes clear why the lyrical content featured in this record is as important as the album’s musical arrangements.
Putting the finishing touch to Tyrants of Wrath is the record’s production. As has been noted, much of the musical content featured throughout the album is very much an homage of sorts to Slayer, what with the clear stylistic approach used in so many of the arrangements. That means that these works are all extremely loud and heavy, leading to the need for the utmost attention to detail. Those behind the boards are to be commended for their work as each arrangement is pummeling but also very immersive and rich. Keeping that in mind, the result thereof is that the record proves just as worth hearing for its production as for its content. When the content and production are collectively considered the whole therein makes Tyrants of Wrath a record that metal purists and Slayer fans alike will find engaging and entertaining.
Tyrants of Wrath, the brand-new sophomore album from Phantom, is a strong new offering from the up-and-coming metal outfit. The album’s success comes in part through its musical arrangements, which exhibit a heavy (no pun intended) vintage Slayer influence. There are some additional elements (E.g. a riff very much in the vein of Eddie Van Halen at one point and what sounds like a silent horror flick type work in another moment). The whole makes the arrangements reason enough to take in this record at least once. The lyrical themes that accompany the album’s musical arrangements are of their own interest what with their lyrical themes that conjure thoughts of works from Exmortus. The record’s production puts the finishing touch to the whole. It ensures the record’s aesthetic appeal is just as positive as its content. Each item examined is important in its own way to the whole of the record. All things considered they make Tyrants of Wrath a welcome addition to this year’s field of new hard rock and metal albums.
Tyrants of Wrath is available now through High Roller Records. More information on the album is available along with all of Phantom’s latest news at https://facebook.com/phantommetalband.
