Tyranny - Tides of Awakening (2005)

Slow and low: the mantra of doomsters the world over, and their curse. As in most metal genres, this simplified hallmark of the style has been pushed to its extremes, with bands ever seeking to be the heaviest, most encumbered numbers around in this drugged-up version of king of the hill. Yet, too often, this pursuit seems to fall into the hands of those lacking enough musical skill, wherein the struggle through trite repetition has become a new sort of doom - the doom of mental atrophy. As is usual in niche genres, however, select bands amongst the miasma of unworthy can push the envelope with justified aplomb, and of these, Tyranny have gained my respect as the foremost purveyors of what funeral doom can do in its purest sense.

Tides Of Awakening is essentially the culmination of funeral doom tradition. The trademarks are here in full: burdened guitars digging their subterranean way upwards, one strum at a time, disintegrating as they reach the light of the surfaceworld; massive vocals delivered like pained roars from the nether diaphragms of a putrefying god; the mesmeric, unyielding drums that mark the irreversible loss of time and hope. It's a textbook formula, surely, yet Tyranny play it perfectly. Beseeching guitar melodies rise throughout the passages, whimsical anchors of emotion that drag the listener along with them above the churning assembly. The shrill choir of keyboards creates a spacious backdrop, a void lit by starfire to hold the rumblings and soften their terror for human ears. The mix is truly massive, vast and monumental as befits such an ode to the supermundane. Additionally, Tides of Awakening has a superb sense of pacing to complement this fully-realized sound. While the unusually dynamic nature of the drums (for funeral doom) plays no small part in this, the balance and interplay of synth and guitar melodies further lends these songs a compelling nature, which is necessary if one hopes to make it all the way through their nigh-twenty minute lengths. Even I can have trouble getting through the more egregious lengths of songs that can occur with doom, but Tyranny keep me enthralled for their entirety. A coating of Chthonic ichor rounds the album out with eldritch themes that perfectly match the music, although you'll have to hit up the lyrics if you desire any measure of comprehension in this regard.

This is not a release that redefines funeral doom; just the opposite, in fact - it is an ode to those who came before, a loving continuation of the ancient ways, and it succeeds quite excellently. I think that it could perhaps benefit from a greater inclusion of reprieves, such as that found at the end of "Upon the War-Torn Shape of Cold Earth" or the entirety of the ambient finale, "Entreaties to the Primaeval Chaos," although I doubt Tyranny have any desire to mitigate the terror of their music. As it is, however, Tides of Awakening is a giant of an album that needs to be experienced, even by those not particularly attracted to the genre if only to bask in the weight of eternity.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10]

http://www.kolumbus.fi/makela.matti/tyranny/