Thousand Year War

Written during a stint in Anchorage, AK, the mastermind of Thousand Year War would seek help from the country that birthed the Gothenburg sound ― in the absence of a live line-up, frontman Hiram Lohr recorded Tyrants And Men with the help of session musicians based in Sweden. Having that connection on a melodeath album certainly doesn't hurt. Tyrants And Men is a cathartic soundscape similar to works from forefathers Dark Tranquillity, using thunderous riffs shaped with plenty of reverb and delay, be it the shredding melodic 16ths in "Spartacus" or the pneumatic rhythm of "Open Casket." During these highlights, the record is like a hammer thrown down by Thor himself; at other points, it's a straight pitch at melodic death with few surprises. While Lohr didn't spend all that time in the cold trying to reinvent the genre, he's seen to it that those who prefer metal with a Nordic edge will be drawn to what's etched into the body of Tyrants And Men.