Label: Everlasting Spew Records
Reelase date: January 24th, 2025
I’m not sure if it’s a matter of luck I have or the mission of Everlasting Spew Records (I somehow feel this second option is a real one), but every entire band they release and I’m able to listen to hasn’t too long experience on the scene. Well, in the case of Tormentor Tyrant’s musicians it’s the opposite. I mean, all of them have been practicing their craft for about two decades. So, they’re undoubtedly well known to metal fans from their country. And this is a country that, in my opinion, is a little wrongly associated primarily with black metal. No, this isn’t Norway I’m talking about here, even if the geographic region is right. And I wrote that association is a little wrong, because from just this country comes some Gods of the genre I’ll write about in this review. Another thing is that for unknown reasons they have always been overshadowed by bands from Sweden.
Anyway, Tormentor Tyrant was founded in times of pandemia in the capital and at the same time the most populous city of the country I’m talking about – this city is called Helsinki. “Excessive…” is their debut album. And I tell you something, you can hear musicians without any green horns and know very well how to destroy listeners in pieces by their classic for a genre and definitely old-school creativity. And here I actually could end my writing right here, because most of you, if not all, know what kind of music our beloved Metal brothers from Finland play. Especially that sick artwork says everything, doesn’t it? Well, says, but not at all. This is of course full-blooded and uncompromised death metal we’re dealing here with and the only thing guys care about is brutality. But judging what you should expect from this album only by the cover can be a little wrong. I, the same as, what I can bet, expected something in vain of an iconic ensemble coming from Florida, one who was born in 1983 under the name Ice. By the way, I know this is probably totally unnecessary digression, but I don’t care at all, I heard at least twice that this band is already dead and will never come back again, but fortunately Troy doesn’t give up. Somehow their second album crossed my mind when I looked at artwork of “Excessive…””. Instead, you get something a little different. You’ll surely, like most people who I know and have heard this item, associate this music with another extremely prominent representative of Tampa’s scene. I mean, the band who was founded in 1987 as Carnage and the same year changed its name to Amon.
I, of course, didn’t mention this last name by accident or even to make it easier for you to get to know what ensemble I mean (I know I’m a malicious asshole and am proud of it). The reason why I did it relates to the creativity of the Finnish. In my opinion these nine tracks are closest to just “Liar in Wait” or early works of the band who is a continuation of Amon, even if it’s a little bit complicated, and whose debut album’s title is the same as its name. And I know I’m not as enigmatic as I’d like, because everyone, especially if they are a death metaller, knows very, very well. Of course, Matti, Juha and Sami create their own music, and you should expect any fucking copy of albums I mentioned before!
“Excessive Escalation of Cruelty” is a very solid album, and I think, once again, that every fan of death metal should contact the band itself or the label as quickly as possible and not skimp on the money to buy it in form of CD, cassette or digital album. The premiere took place quite long ago, January 24th, but as I know every possible format is still available. So, what do you still wait for?
