Song of the Week: Tyrant

Tyrant - Black Math Horseman - Wylt

Way back in the early months of 2010 when I was first buying records I was trying to choose an album to buy off of the TeePee record label. The decision was split between the cool looking The Legend Of Gods Gun by Spindrift and the not as cool looking or sounding (in name) Wylt by Black Math Horseman. I ultimately left it up to album covers and chose Spindrifts because of that and the fact that it was yellow translucent vinyl. I made a poor decision, although there are some good songs on The Legend Of Gods Gun, that will probably get mentioned in another post sometime. Anyhow what I liked about Black Math Horseman and Tyrant in particular still holds true to today, over a year and a half later. It has long songs which would put it more in the post rock category, but a dynamic quality, and solid enough drumming (and rhythms in general) that keep the songs from getting too lost while still having a darker, almost trance like quality. This quality is really shaped by the amount of delay and distortion on guitar, but also the ethereal quality of the vocals, which I love. I think nothing would suit this band better than a female vocalist, she doesn't wail or scream, but instead delivers haunting whisping vocals, perfect for this album. I really find it refreshing when vocalists, especially metal ones, don't really on brutal screams. There's really nothing creative about a scream, and that's the wonderful thing about music is that you can make it scream for you, in a much more beautiful and powerful way, than you just making loud unintelligible noises for 4 and a half minutes, with no dynamic change. Her voice is perfect for this, it's subtle at times but not wavering, it's powerful, without being oafish. Tyrant winds this mix of heaviness, subtly and hypnotism very well, and is extremely enjoyable to listen to. Enjoy.