Chronicle of Tyrants – „Nemesis MMIV“
(homeproduced 2004/2005)
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In
May 2005 „Nemesis MMIV“ of the German Death Metal band „Chronicle of Tyrants“
has made it into the „Demo of the month“ section. Some German metalheads
might remember the band, because they already played gigs as support for “Dismember”,
“God Dethroned” and “Disillusion” (and they´ve taken part in the
“Wacken-Open-Air Metal battle 2005”).
On „Nemesis MMIV“ you get served with 66 minutes of the finest Death Metal.
The special fact about this album is that it absolutely never drifts into
monotony (as you might know from a few other bands, who drift away to some
thrash-like passages around the middle or end of any record, lacking new ideas)…
this definitely isn`t the case with this album of “Chronicle of tyrants”.
Okay, there might be some moments when you think, the music might get too
“thrashy” now (as for instance in “Insomnia” or “Hypocrite”). But
this hasn’t necessarily to be boring (maybe for me, because I don´t like
thrash … only if it´s really excellent), so maybe some of you might like
exactly those parts. But those few moments anyway never last very long, after a
few seconds it always returns to merciless Death brutality, so I don´t really
have problems with these parts.
One of the first songs that
are really killer is „Lifeless“ ( = the 3rd track on the CD). There you can
listen to spiteful carping in high pitches mixed with parts sung with a very
deep growling voice, which creates an unbelievable atmosphere in this song. The
whole thing is supported by a driving bass, virtuous and chasing guitars and
passionated singing taking your breath away. The lyrics get shouted and screamed
out loudly, and the last kick it gets from sudden changes in the themes of the
musical background and the speed. Just an A1 song! Everytime I listen to this
record I get stuck on this track and I just have to listen to it again and again.
A real good turn is the
beginning of „Altered Reality“. It´s just really different from the
beginning of other Death songs! Well done, guys! This song anyway is very
special, because as the track continues the vocalist of the band sings with a
really very deep-pitched and diabolical voice… Bands with such a skilled
singer are hard to find (especially those deep voices are very seldom). It
really sounds crushingly great (yes, I confess: I have a weakness for those deep
singing voices, which can cause a feeling of being pulled into an abyss, like it´s
the case here with “Chronicle of Tyrants”).
The only fact I have to complain about is the bad quality of the
recording-production. But most of it all is sponsored or self-produced, so of
course you can`t expect the same quality as for instance on a Hypocrisy album.
But nevertheless this is unfortunate, because especially the quality of the bass
sound isn´t shown to it´s fullest advantage. You know, I can imagine, the bass
would sound mighty and great during a live gig of the band.
For the old-established fans
of the band this album contains some new recordings of a few old songs (from the
first demo tape), such as “Misanthropic” and “Morbid Apocalyptic Visions”.
Furthermore this albums surprises us with some exeptional-lenght tracks, such as
the neat “Whole world torn apart” (with a length of almost 8 minutes). But
if you now think, that`s gonna be some soulful stuff with some long and cheesy
guitar breaks etc. (like “Mother Gaja”of “Stratovarius”), then you`re
totally wrong. Those very short moments of silence and soft tones in this song
are just a break to find powers for the next moment, when the drum sound breaks
through once more like a brute force.
To sum it up: with an easy
conscience I recommend you to buy this album (contact: info@chronicle-of-tyrants.com
), your money is well invested if you´re a dedicated Death Metal fan. To
conclude:10 points out of 10 for the song writing, 9 out of 10 points for
instrumental skills, only 5 out of 10 for the production quality, for singing
skills: 10 out of 10 points… and for the incredibly deep voice of the band’s
vocalist: 11 out of 10 points… hah! Don`t miss it! Recommended tracks:
“Nothing to fear” and “Lifeless”.
(Review by Twilightheart)