Or: How to soundtrack the end of the world while still making me grin like a maniac
Tyrannotophia Redux isn’t just heavy, it’s absurdly, stupidly heavy. The kind of heavy that makes your neighbours worry about structural integrity when you turn it up.
What’s wild about this Redux is how alive it feels compared to the original. The production is sharper, nastier, and meaner, like someone took the raw brutality of 2019’s Tyrannotophia and fed it through a black hole lined with barbed wire.
Every slam, every breakdown, every ungodly guttural has more bite. It’s like rediscovering an old weapon, only now it’s been re-forged with alien tech.
Tracks like The Enslavement and Heirs Of Torment absolutely crush with their down-tuned violence being perfect examples of how Distant turn a riff into a weapon of mass destruction.
Tracks like The Enslavement and Heirs Of Torment absolutely crush with their down-tuned violence being perfect examples of how Distant turn a riff into a weapon of mass destruction.
Meanwhile, Tyrannotophia itself feels even more colossal here, dripping with apocalyptic atmosphere that’s impossible to escape. And then there’s Endgame, which pretty much does what it says on the tin: if the world ended tomorrow, this would be the soundtrack to the final collapse.
Mood-wise, this is pure annihilation. There’s no gentle “emotional arc” here, it’s doom, fire, and concrete collapsing all the way down. But somehow, within that apocalyptic soundscape, there’s a sense of power, almost triumph. It’s the kind of record that makes you feel ten feet tall and slightly monstrous, in the best possible way.
It’s not until the third track, Fall To Pieces that things start to really pack a punch, but it achieves this from feeling far more Hard and Heavy than the more technical pieces that surround it, because at its heart there’s a solid thundering and catchy riff and melody with minimal technical flourishes surrounding it, despite actually being the longest track on here.
As a four piece with only three instrumentalists, they songs need a solid foundation, but my challenge with this record is that the bulk of them lack a strong structure to hang everything else on.
Mood-wise, this is pure annihilation. There’s no gentle “emotional arc” here, it’s doom, fire, and concrete collapsing all the way down. But somehow, within that apocalyptic soundscape, there’s a sense of power, almost triumph. It’s the kind of record that makes you feel ten feet tall and slightly monstrous, in the best possible way.
The vocals? Still monstrous. Tomáš hurls out sounds that barely qualify as human, and on this Redux, they cut even harder. The guitars and drums, meanwhile, sound like they’re waging war on each other, yet everything locks into this suffocatingly tight groove. You don’t just listen to it, you’re dragged under and throttled until you accept defeat.
And yet, here’s the thing: it’s fun. Proper fun. There’s a tongue-in-cheek quality to how relentlessly savage it all is, like Distant know full well they’re writing the soundtrack to Godzilla dropkicking a city, and they’re grinning behind the chaos.
Tyrannotophia Redux is everything deathcore should be in 2025: bigger, meaner, sharper, and devastatingly unashamed of its own excess. If the original was a sledgehammer, this Redux is a sledgehammer covered in spikes, dipped in acid, and wielded by a demon. Over the top? Absolutely. But that’s exactly why it rules. 9/10
Black Water Rising - The Edge (Capital T Productions) [Rich Piva]
Black Water Rising is a band I was not familiar with until I heard the track lead singer Rob Traynor sang on the new Patriarchs In Black record (one of the best songs on a great record) and Dan from PiB suggested I check them out.
And yet, here’s the thing: it’s fun. Proper fun. There’s a tongue-in-cheek quality to how relentlessly savage it all is, like Distant know full well they’re writing the soundtrack to Godzilla dropkicking a city, and they’re grinning behind the chaos.
Tyrannotophia Redux is everything deathcore should be in 2025: bigger, meaner, sharper, and devastatingly unashamed of its own excess. If the original was a sledgehammer, this Redux is a sledgehammer covered in spikes, dipped in acid, and wielded by a demon. Over the top? Absolutely. But that’s exactly why it rules. 9/10
Black Water Rising - The Edge (Capital T Productions) [Rich Piva]
Black Water Rising is a band I was not familiar with until I heard the track lead singer Rob Traynor sang on the new Patriarchs In Black record (one of the best songs on a great record) and Dan from PiB suggested I check them out.
Around the same time, I received the promo and was immediately taken by the riffs that permeate all throughout their new record, The Edge.
These guys are no rookies, as the band in some form has been around for decades, and you can tell based on the quality, production, and writing. The Edge is killer guitar driven riff rock with some stoner leanings and even a bit of 90s alt grunge stuff going on.
My summation of this record is that it is if ZZ Top and Stone Temple Pilots still kept their shared apartment in NYC. The riffs, the vocals, the attitude. Right of the bat you get it all with the opener Slow Slide. Given what I experienced at Welcome To Rockville this year, there is no reason why BWR would not kill it in a late spot on one of the main stages based on their sound on this one.
My summation of this record is that it is if ZZ Top and Stone Temple Pilots still kept their shared apartment in NYC. The riffs, the vocals, the attitude. Right of the bat you get it all with the opener Slow Slide. Given what I experienced at Welcome To Rockville this year, there is no reason why BWR would not kill it in a late spot on one of the main stages based on their sound on this one.
Hail Mary may be my favourite, with the riff and the tempo change that goes all 90s alt on us right before the two-minute mark. This song screams ZZ Top + STP, and I am here for it. Only a couple of the songs lean a bit too heavy metal country for me, like Headstrong, for example.
However right after that the title track comes on and satisfies your appetite for more of that heavy, grungy riff rock, this time adding a bit of a Zep 70s vibe to it. Then comes Seeking A Shill which sounds like something right off of Tiny Music. Great stuff.
It baffles me what actually gets on the radio these days, because Black Water Rising hangs with all of those heavier guitar driven bands that sell a bunch of records and get lots of airplay in 2025. These guys do it better, with more heart, grit, and likability. The Edge rocks. 8/10
Headless - Transitional Objects (M-Theory Audio) [Simon Black]
Italy’s Headless started life very much in the hard rock corner of all things rock and metal but increasingly have shifted to a far more progressive sound, without losing their core root sound.
It baffles me what actually gets on the radio these days, because Black Water Rising hangs with all of those heavier guitar driven bands that sell a bunch of records and get lots of airplay in 2025. These guys do it better, with more heart, grit, and likability. The Edge rocks. 8/10
Headless - Transitional Objects (M-Theory Audio) [Simon Black]
Italy’s Headless started life very much in the hard rock corner of all things rock and metal but increasingly have shifted to a far more progressive sound, without losing their core root sound.
Given that their origins were back in the 90’s and there was quite a big gap of fifteen years between their second and third releases, that’s perhaps not surprising that things would evolve as their experience grew, but a significant amount of churn in the line-up probably has as much to do with it.
Either way this is an act that is more than comfortable and capable delivering a more technical and complex instrumental core to their music than previously. Unlike far too many prog acts, the band retain the punchier song durations that hard rock thrives on.
This is in their favour as the songs don’t get time to outstay their welcome or feel like they are only there to show of the proficiencies of their players. Eight songs and thirty-six minutes of run-time is definitely to the point, but where I struggle with this album is that despite that brevity the songwriting meanders a bit too much.
It’s not until the third track, Fall To Pieces that things start to really pack a punch, but it achieves this from feeling far more Hard and Heavy than the more technical pieces that surround it, because at its heart there’s a solid thundering and catchy riff and melody with minimal technical flourishes surrounding it, despite actually being the longest track on here.
Sadly, the rest of the album struggles to achieve the same impact. We have to wait until album closer I Thought I Knew It to get that sense of catchiness back, which is a shame because these guys are really good musicians.
As a four piece with only three instrumentalists, they songs need a solid foundation, but my challenge with this record is that the bulk of them lack a strong structure to hang everything else on.
Much as I love the prog world, this feel a little like it’s not clear which world they belong in, and when the rockier aspects rise to the top, they uplift the listening experience with them. 6/10
Mines - Cold & Lost (Lavender Sweep Records) [Matt Bladen]
Swansea experimentalists Mines follow up their previous release Warm & Safe with their new EP Cold & Lost.
Mines - Cold & Lost (Lavender Sweep Records) [Matt Bladen]
Swansea experimentalists Mines follow up their previous release Warm & Safe with their new EP Cold & Lost.
Now I will say here that if you come into this EP looking for colossal riffs, growls and blast beats you may as well go elsewhere as Mines venture further into their experimental tendencies with five tracks of electronically driven ambient music which contrasts light and shade.
Where electronics envelop creating a claustrophobic but ultimately peaceful soundscapes which pull you into softly in way that Pink Floyd did between Ummagumma and Obscured by Clouds, the haunting whispers, the distant drum beats.
Where electronics envelop creating a claustrophobic but ultimately peaceful soundscapes which pull you into softly in way that Pink Floyd did between Ummagumma and Obscured by Clouds, the haunting whispers, the distant drum beats.
Synthetic and organic in unison as they also take cues from the likes of King Crimson. Never rushing to the conclusion but letting the songs naturally unveil themselves to the lister as if they are a collection of performance pieces or soundtrack moments rather than a single album.
That being said there's a unity to the record, taking you on a journey of musical discovery, both primal and evolved, Mines dig deep into their own psyche with Cold & Lost, metal it isn't but it's heavier than dark matter. 7/10
That being said there's a unity to the record, taking you on a journey of musical discovery, both primal and evolved, Mines dig deep into their own psyche with Cold & Lost, metal it isn't but it's heavier than dark matter. 7/10
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