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Review: Woe of Tyrants - Kingdom of Might
Woe of Tyrants
www.myspace.com/wot
Kingdom of Might

Label: Metal Blade Records
Year released: 2009
Duration: 41:39
Tracks: 11
Genre: Thrash Metal

Rating:
4.75/5


Review online: February 23, 2009
Reviewed by: Jason Cominetto
Readers' Rating
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Rated 3.54/5 (70.77%) (13 Votes)
Review

Before I checked out this album I had never heard of Woe of Tyrants, but after reading Eternal Shadow’s review of the album I thought I would check it out. Needless to say, I was no less blown away than I thought I would be. After listening to the album in its entirety I went right back and listened to the whole thing over again a second time; it’s that good.

Woe of Tyrants manages to create a sound I feel is slightly familiar, yet entirely unique. Think of a combination of aggressive Thrash Metal topped off with Death Metal vocals and an atmosphere of melodic medieval heroism and you have the basis for this band’s sound. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a band sound quite like this, and this uniqueness in sound give Woe of Tyrants an identity of a band who truly knows what they want to come off as and sound like. I implore anyone reading this to check out the band's Myspace page and listen to their tracks to know what I mean; I’m sure the music will strike you as off guard as it struck me.

Kingdom of Might is an absolutely amazing compilation of fast-as-hell riffs that show what I assume is the band’s best offering. Each track is individual in its own right and is sure to provide for many listens. By far, the best song on the album is "Sounding Jerusalem," as I’ve already listened to it well over twenty times and find something new to love in it just about every time I give it another spin. It starts off as a combination of rough and precise Thrash/Death riffage, which sets up the pace for a beautiful and melodic section full of guitar harmonies and neoclassical shredding, the likes of which are absolutely amazing. After that the band returns to more Thrash/Death riffs, combining catchy breakdowns and dark guitar parts that remind me of Behemoth’s Demigod.

The main axeman, John Hehman, proves his chops on "Sounding Jerusalem," but his skills are present on just about every other track on the album, most of which contain a blazingly fast solo of his. This guy can shred, and it’s surprising the rest of the band can keep up with him when he’s not melting faces with his solos, since the rhythm sections of the songs maintain a consistently fast tempo. "Soli Deo Gloria," "The Seven Braids of Samson," "Pearls Before Swine," these are all amazing songs that implement the ridiculous guitar work the absolute best. Even other songs, such as "Break the Fangs of the Wicked," which don’t have as over-the-top guitars are extremely catchy, aggressive, and melodic. The way the band switches between headbanging Death Metal riffs and soaring Power Metal-esque instrumentals can be mind boggling, but is always effective.

The only detriment this album bears is the mixing. The bass is near impossible to hear 99% of the time and the drums can be toned down too much at certain points, letting the guitarists inadvertently do the drummers job for him. However, these things can be looked over, because Woe of Tyrants have released a near perfect record with Kingdom of Might. I’ll be listening to this one for a while.

More about Woe of Tyrants...
Review: Kingdom of Might (reviewed by Eternal Sorrow)
Review: Threnody (reviewed by Adam Kohrman)
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