Album Review: Tormentor Tyrant – Excessive Escalation Of Cruelty
Reviewed by Sam Jones
Few records have risen into my attention as quickly, across multiple social media platforms, as Tormentor Tyrant have with their upcoming debut full length album. Seeing this record advertised so often I knew I had to see what was what. Formed in 2020 out of Uusimaa, Finland, Tormentor Tyrant are a three-piece act who seemed poised to deliver a truly searing death metal experience. Following their first Singles in 2021 it didn’t take long for Everlasting Spew Records to snap them up in time for their 2022 self-titled EP. The band recently released another Single in full preparation for this album, scheduled for January 24th. Everlasting Spew Records have been grabbing some quality bands as of late and already in the new year they’re seeking to unveil Finland’s Tormentor Tyrant as another weapon amongst their arsenal. I was plenty curious for this release and I’m thrilled to give Excessive Escalation Of Cruelty its due.
I appreciate that Tormentor Tyrant don’t waste their time, other than a small introductory instrumental piece. When the band decide they want their record to begin there is very little fanfare nor buildup before the band uneasy all hell upon their audience. The fact that their songwriting doesn’t persist for too long aids them as well for it forces the band to get to the point, to get right into the thick of it, while our attention is at its maximum, bowled over by the sheer ferocity their performance entails. In a way you can pin it on their Finnish origins too, for the Finns are renowned for their savage, unrepentant soundscapes within extreme metal hence why Tormentor Tyrant’s death metal certainly feels different to a typically more refined US counterpart.
Speaking of which, it won’t take long for audiences to pick up on the more raw and coarse guitar tone that’s been selected for this record. The band evidently aren’t messing around with our time and therefore want our first experience to be one of ravaged awe; the riffs are chunky, you can feel the shape they make as the band play, they’ve been defined nicely within the mix so there’s little chance of us missing out on what’s occurring in the moment, but there’s absolutely a serrated edge applied to their sound. It’s immediately clear there is something else at work in the background as their songwriting appears to have this lacerated blade latched onto it. I think it’s just the right amount of rougher texture as it amplifies the band’s demonic tendencies a touch but it doesn’t exert itself so totally that it inhibits us from appreciating the smaller niceties their riffs deliver on.
Even as death metal goes, it’s amazing just how hard Tormentor Tyrant go in their playing. That’s not saying their songwriting is bristling with ultra-heavy, over-crushing sequences because this record is surprisingly restrained in spite of the punches they land. Within the mix, and throughout their performance, you get the sense that the band are not here to make friends nor are they going to hold your hand. Once you’re within their soundscape they’ve got you at their total mercy and they’re going to ragdoll your body round like it’s a child’s toy. The vast majority of the band’s sound sees us submerged in this searing, volcanic anger and the way they throw blast beats and riffs and vocal licks in every direction really speaks volumes regarding how the band approach extreme metal. Rather than the riffs alone deliver the impact, the residual resonance as delivered by the whole band following a riff or drum strike hits us just as hard. One can imagine the band hardly maintaining a solitary position as they’ve recorded this owing to the frantic energy barely contained within.
It’s been a hot minute since I encountered a vocal performance that so perfectly complements the instrumental side. Experiencing the vocals here completes the soundscape Tormentor Tyrant must have set out upon achieving for if the riffs or drums don’t tear your skin up, the vocals definitely will. If anything, the vocal delivery is even more ravenous, nigh on rabid, and this helps the record take on an altogether more animalistic quality than had the vocals been a more rudimentary growling manner. A choice in vocals really does make all the difference and in Tormentor Tyrant’s case, it was the perfect and right choice; the deliberate choice not to mix in the vocals cleanly into the mix lends them a more forward, prominent positioning within the band’s performance as you can truly envision their frontman spluttering and raging right at the forefront of the stage should you see them live. Every second spent with these vocals is a treat for you can hear, and feel, the bile and phlegm going into this delivery; it’s staggering to remember this band is just a three-piece when their soundscape utterly eclipses those crafted by bands twice their size.
In conclusion, Tormentor Tyrant’s first full length album is an absolutely storming hellfire performance. This is certainly one way to make a profound impact this early on in your career and I can only imagine the multitude of eyes that’ll be directed towards these guys for you’d swear they were in album three or four already. In many ways it’s part for the course given their Finnish origins, and the heightened severity Finnish bands play with, yet even with that in consideration the band do not mince their words. For nine tracks straight Tormentor Tyrant devastate our senses and deliver what is easily one of the more punishing and visceral works of extreme metal this soon into the new year. Not only do they play and perform aggressively, but you feel that rage hardly restrained, you believe with every fibre of your being that these guys are thoroughly capable of killing you on the spot should you give them the room and freedom to do so. Owing to the brutality within I wouldn’t be surprised if people, new to Tormentor Tyrant, replay this record numerous times over, if just to reassert the sheer malevolence these guys possess. This record has been thrown across a myriad of social media platforms and now I understand why; Excessive Escalation Of Cruelty is one diabolical album.
