Premiere: Stream Tyrannus’s “Unslayable” In Full

April 21, 2022

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Cosmic black metal for your pleasure/terror.

I find myself shying away from black metal more and more lately due to the sheer saturation of NS and NS-adjacent acts in the genre; call me what you will, but I don’t want to give my time and money to a bunch of far-right shitheels. Thus, it’s immensely satisfying to find bands lurking in the genre’s murky waters that openly oppose fascism. And when that band’s singing about horrific, unknowable entities from beyond the bounds of mortal knowledge? Count me the hell in. And if that sounds like the sort of thing you’d be into too, then let me introduce you to Tyrannus. Actually, let Tyrannus introduce themselves and their new album:

“‘Unslayable’ is the most perfect representation of Tyrannus, not only as a band but as an ideal. We set out to make something special and memorable, and we fully believe we have achieved this. ‘Unslayable’ takes our personal beliefs of anti-capitalism and antifascism and warps them into a genre-crossing Lovecraftian horror story. I hope everyone who listens to ‘Unslayable’ finds something they love in it.”

Now, that said, it’s not enough for a band to be openly anti-fash for me to get into them; I need the music to actually be good, too. You can probably surmise that I wouldn’t be talking about this if I didn’t fuck with what Tyrannus is doing, but let me tell you: this thing bangs. The band could have simply sat back and ridden on spooky chords and ambience to craft their atmosphere of cosmic horror, but they go well above and beyond. That atmosphere is there, of course- it would be a crime to do cosmic horror without it- but it serves as a foundation for some truly mean riffing. Their genre-agnostic approach to the music gets you more than a few thrash and death metal riffs throughout, and I will always be a proponent of these types of shreddy solos in black metal.

It’s brought together by a warm, open production job that allows for some powerful dynamic and textural expression in the music. A swell in volume might add to the discomforting atmosphere, or a harmony might have an effect on it that the melody doesn’t, adding a bit of spice and further driving home that feeling of pure weird. The clean parts sound particularly good: the tone is good, but it’s the space the guitar is given to breathe makes it feel almost lonely, echoing down the corridors of long-forgotten ruins or simply ringing out into the void.

But you don’t need me to tell you any of this when you can simply listen to the album for yourself. We’ve got the full thing right here for you today, so strap yourselves in and hit play.