Band – Demon King
Album – The Final Tyranny EP
Country of Origin – USA
Genre – Blackened Technical Death Metal
Release Date – February 12th, 2021
Label – The Artisan Era
Author – Bret Casey
This might sound strange but I’m not a fan of black metal, no matter how hard I try, I just can’t seem to get into it. However, I’m a big fan of all blackened metal from Tribulation’s black n’ roll to Carnifex’s blackened deathcore to Singularity’s symphonic blackened technical death metal. Black metal just brings that little something extra to neighboring sub-genres that scratches itches I never knew I had. It helps that balancing black metal with other genres is harder to pull off so the market isn’t oversaturated.
The Artisan Era is also one of my favorite record labels, their entire catalog has one of the best like/dislike ratios among my favorite labels.
Needless to say, my expectations were very, VERY high.
So, as a fan of blackened metal and also The Artisan Era label, I can confidently say that Demon King’s The Final Tyranny is a very satisfying listen.
My biggest complaint is that it’s too short, so short that I’ve already had to stop writing this review to press replay.
Also the title The Final Tyranny implies there are previous tyrannies the listeners might not get to hear about. Even if we did, what would the album be called? The Prequal Tyranny? First Tyranny? How many tyrannies can we expect to hear about?
Bad jokes aside, I wish I was more versed in guitar techniques to describe the intricate guitar work at play here, but if you have never heard a blackened tech-death riff before I’ve got a feast for your ears to behold. The mixing is top notch, I love that I can hear all the individual instruments at play very clearly, from tremolo guitars to clean-toned bass to drums so fast they sound like the drummer will collapse from exhaustion at the end of the set, it’s a maze of sound easy to get lost in.
And all this sound is coming from 3 guys. Three!!!
Matt Brown – All Guitars/Vocals (ex-Enfold Darkness)
Malcolm Pugh – Bass (Inferi, A Loathing Requiem, ex-Entheos)
Jack Blackburn – Drums (ex-Inferi, ex-Enfold Darkness, ex-Vital Remains)
*insert “mind blown” meme here, if you don’t I’ll look silly*
Overall rating: I NEED MORE, YESTERDAY!
Biography: Hi, I’m a music enthusiast from Maine USA with ties to the metal and punk communities. When I’m not reviewing music I’m spending my free time with my wife and kids or gaming with my friends and family. I just started 2 YouTube channels dedicated to gaming and music.
Come watch me play Xbox games as MistahKC207: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMctEEJu13cB2gXNRZzmhJQ
Or watch my 30-second album review shorts and music industry ponderings as The Scratched Record: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt79OV0EELspfkKjB7EbjfA
I’m currently in the process of channel artwork for The Scratched Record and content writing/editing for MistahKC207 Gaming so depending on how soon this is published channel(s) might still be empty and these are my free-time projects.
