ALBUM REVIEW: Tyrannotophia – Distant

There was a significant shift in attitude with deathcore early into the noughties. With the original roots of the genre being forgotten in an evolution towards crushing heaviness in lieu of almost anything musical. This came to a head with the inception of bands like BLACK TONGUE, TRAITORS, and the further, ever slowing tempos of later THE ACACIA STRAIN. These knuckle-dragging slow tempos create a primal feel to the music, along with a hulking sense of actual weight being thrown around when the grooves come crashing down across the plethora of breakdowns. Whilst impressive yes, there is a nuance to nailing this type of heavy music, and one that DISTANT find on more than one occasion throughout their debut.

Tyrannotophia is definitely a mid-tempo slog for the entire of its run time, let that be a warning. If the same constant plod becomes tiresome, it’s because there lacks a general sense of diversity throughout the debut. There are flickers of fantastic groove though, as False Gods and Abhorrence start with a head bobbing bounce to them, combined with the snarl inducing density of the guitar tone. The slam riffs work with the compressed, modern deathcore mix and when the band hit their breakdowns, they hit with an almighty impact.

This is about as much praise as one can give to Tyrannotophia at this point in the record though, as there is such a lack of musical diversity that it makes the album hard to divide into its collective parts. Every song trudges at the same pace and features the same breakdowns and structures as the previous, making DISTANT just a bit late to the trend of purely relying on shock factor alone. DISTANT show themselves to be penchant to a bit of atmosphere thanks to slow lead guitar lines that fill in the space behind the main mix, and it makes for an interesting potential that is never capitalised upon outside of a few minor moments throughout the record. The Enslavement brings the album up a bit, after a weird intermission track that is quite literally 90 seconds of uninspired chugs. The openly hail of double bass is an injection of energy DISTANT need to consider putting more into their music.

There is a truly heavy reliance on the vocals to give the needed musical variety to keep Tyrannotophia interesting throughout the record. The vocals are sufficiently putrid, jumping from gurgling gutturals to some demonic growls that amplify the brutal breakdowns throughout the record. Heirs Of Torment takes things to their natural conclusion, with a breakdown that slows to a near point of hilarity by the end, but does it with such conviction that it works brilliantly. This late album highlight shows that there is success to be had in slowing the blueprint down, but it serves as a clear example of how having a few dynamics in an album can really elevate other aspects.

DISTANT make a good attempt at making the impact they clearly want. Despite a sound that feels a few years too late, DISTANT have moments of clarity that prove they know what they’re doing, but these moments are mired by the thin, one dimensional sound that makes up the majority of Tyrannotophia. There needs to be a more varied album next time round, because just being heavy doesn’t cut it anymore.

Rating: 5/10

Tyrannotophia is out now via Unique Leader Records.

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