TYRANT "Hereafter" Digi CD

The long-awaited comeback album of America's TYRANT! Hailing from Pasadena, California, TYRANT formed in 1978 and put out their first demo in '82. However, it was with their pair of albums for Metal Blade - 1985's Legions of the Dead and 1987's Too Late to Pray - where they'd etch their name into cult heavy metal legendry. Proud and powerful, theirs was steel tempered in the purest and proudest tradition: neither NWOBHM nor speed metal nor doom nor hair metal by any strict definitions, but uniquely dipping that blade into all at any given moment, and given an almost medieval atmosphere considering the ever-changing stylistic landscape during those years, which would be deemed "old-fashioned" as the 1980s came to a close. It took nearly a decade for TYRANT's next album to arrive, 1996's King of Kings, and indeed were the band even more out of place in that landscape; despite staunchly sticking to their guns, this would be their otherwise-final album. At last, it arrives with Hereafter. With founding member Greg May on bass along with longtime guitarist Rocky Rockwell and powerhouse drummer Ronnie Wallace, who's been with the band since 2010, TYRANT now feature a significant new addition on vocals: the one and only Rob Lowe, he of Solitude Aeternus and ex-Candlemass fame. His addition proves especially significant given TYRANT's doomier direction on Hereafter. While no doubt sounding like the same band who delivered those two classics on Metal Blade so long ago, the TYRANT of Hereafter conjures forth a classy, ominously melodic style of doom METAL - or at least traditional heavy metal steeped in doom, much like Black Sabbath in the early '80s with Dio and then Ian Gillan on the mic - with each of these 11 mini-epics headbanging forward with power, poise, and a stately sort of grace. Aiding that granite-thick surge is the production of one Bill Metoyer, the legendary producer who's recorded all of TYRANT's albums to date. Evading any sort of "retro" moves, Metoyer keeps the sound on Hereafter rich, robust, and above all timeless, just like TYRANT's ever-unyielding style of metal. Truly, this is the homecoming the legions have been waiting for!