Tyrant Goatgaldrakona: Horns in the Dark (2013)

I first heard about this release when my former law school colleague Kelly reviewed it on his blog last summer.  It sounded like the kind of thing that I would be fairly interested in so I checked it out.

This is the Hungarian band's debut full-length and their only full-length thus far.  They have released three EPs, one as recently as last year, so perhaps there is still something coming sometime soon.  That would be good because I was very impressed with this release.

Tyrant Goatgaldrakona's sound is rooted in old-school occult death metal, particularly groups like Incantation and Immolation, with some Morbid Angel thrown in for good measure.  The riffs go through a number of styles from heavy thrash to tremolo riffs found in black metal.  The element that stands out the most in listening to the album is the solo and lead guitar work, which is exceptional for this type of band.

As Kelly says, the songs kind of run together and the band is not exactly a fount of originality, but it is an enjoyable listen and it does exactly what an album of this genre should do, and there is something to be said for that.