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Canada has been a real hotbed of metal for the past several years and I am heading for the Great White North once again to review Tyrants, the debut album from Ültra Raptör. Any time you see an overuse of umlauts it's a safe bet the band don't take themselves too seriously and embrace the tasty cheesiness inherent in metal music. From the cover art resplendent with scantily clad bodies to the band photo in front of a statue of a T. Rex (fossils of the largest T. Rex were found in Saskatchewan) to song titles like "Cybörg-Rex" and "SpaceFighter (442 AlphaClass Pegasus SubC35.2)," it is clear these guys are out to have fun and that comes shining through on Tyrants. The overall sound of the album is of Ape De Martini (ex-OZ) singing for Dragonforce. Vocalist Phil T. Lung belts out catchy choruses on cuts like "Gale Runner" and "Missile (Metal Warrior)" while the rest of the band speeds through melodic riffs and acrobatic leads. It is a "bang your head while you throw a fist in the air" experience and while the songwriting isn't overly varied, there isn't a bad song on the album. If you want your metal to get up and go and bring you along for the ride, Tyrants is just the ticket.