WOE OF TYRANTS

Kingdom of Might

Metal Blade
rating icon 8 / 10

Track listing:

01. Jesu Juva
02. Soli Deo Gloria
03. Break the Fangs of the Wicked
04. Pearls Before Swine
05. Kingdom of Might (The Eclipse)
06. Kingdom of Might (Dawn in the Darkness)
07. Sounding Jerusalem
08. Sons of Thunder
09. The Seven Braids of Samson
10. Like Jasper and Carnelian
11. Golgotha


"Watch out for the next release; it just may crush all in its path," was the statement I made to end my review of WOE OF TYRANT's "Behold the Lion", the group's Tribunal Records debut. That next release is "Kingdom of Might" and the label is now Metal Blade. I don't know about crushing all in its path, but the album is in fact an improvement over its predecessor and is the sound of a band that has hit its stride.

"Kingdom of Might" is a blistering modern, melodic death/thrash album with a positive, Christian lyrical theme that may or may not float your boat. Don't make the mistake of letting any disdain you may have for Christian metal lyrics dissuade you from diving headfirst into this swirling maelstrom of metal. The long-player is a rip-snorting death thrasher, no question about it. And the guys from Chillicothe, Ohio are good songwriters. The arrangements are packed with monster riffs and slamming compositional changeups. The numerous fire-breathing solos and intricately played harmonies are a guitar-lover's dream. The engineering/mixing/mastering job of Joey Sturgis brings out every sharp edge and glistening metallic shard too.

The songs are just loaded with whiplash inducing parts. "Soli Deo Gloria" comes sprinting out of the blocks with a superb arrangement that features the fleet-fingered fretwork of Matt Kincaid and John Hehman. It slashes, burns, and comes straight at you with great transitions and triumphantly metal moments. And that's only the second track (after intro "Jesu Juva"). "Break the Fangs of the Wicked" moves into more of a traditional Swedish melo-death/AT THE GATES approach and the riff grooves on "Pearls Before Swine" and the swampy, southern metal instrumental "Sons of Thunder" are sublime. The album's pinnacle is reached during the one-two punch of "Kingdom of Might (The Eclipse)" and "Kingdom of Might (Dawn in the Darkness)". The former features the disc's darkest tones before fading into a serene acoustic section that morphs into its sister track, one that features a shift to thrashing speed metal around the 2:50 mark that wrecks the neck. The same goes with the opening thrash segment of "Like Jasper and Carnelian" — it is one of those "Wow!" moments.

It is those earth-shaking transitions that WOE OF TYRANTS has mastered on "Kingdom of Might". Virtually every one is an attention grabber. There is no substantial letup in momentum either, only a slight bit of drag that sets in during the last few songs. The criticism is largely inconsequential though. "Kingdom of Might" lays most Christian metal albums to waste.

Author:
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).