De Tyrannide Daemonum

I came across this album recently and neither did I have any information about it, nor did I know the band. The nice logo and the beautiful, old school, black and white cover caught my attention. I also found it at a very attractive price so I bought it. And I have to admit that it was a very pleasant surprise. So this EP is the first ever release of the Italian duet, called Hepatomancy and they have been active since 2020 when De Tyrannide Daemonum was recorded. It was released on the 7th of March of 2021 in a limited to 66 copies cassette format, some days later it was released in a limited to 300 copies CD format and finally the band made it available in digital format, in December of the same year. It contains five tracks, intro and outro included in the first and the last song respectively, of overall duration of about twenty minutes.

What will you find here? Just pure, raw, minimalistic, old school  Black Metal. The riffing is warlike, tremolo, with a lot of epic moments, mainly fast and destructive. There are some passages that slow down a bit, revealing the band’s Heavy and Doom Metal influences and giving a variety that the compositions need so that they become more interesting. The raw sound of the production, creating a really dark and threatening atmosphere, taking you deep into their chtonic bothros. The duration of the tracks is short, from two to six minutes but mainly closer to two, and their structure is simple and straightforward as their style demanded to be. As I mentioned above, there are some moments, passages and bridges that slow the rhythm down and add some Heavy and Doom references, making also the structure more interesting.

The two members of the band are responsible for everything that is going on in this album. Tenebrius is the one playing the guitars and doing the vocals, while Eibon is playing the drums. I am not sure that there is a bass, as i couldn’t hear any bassline in the album. The songwriting, the production, the mixture and mastering was done by the band. The production is noisy and raw, giving to the sound a dark and  eerie feeling. The mixture is balanced, highlighting the guitars and the drums, while the vocals are a little lower. The mixture combined with the raw sound of the production adds to the vocals a very demonic and eerie sensation. The drums are powerful and accurate, played with a lot of passion and destructive energy. The guitars are also accurate and powerful, delivering a strong punch to the listener with every riff. The lyrics are not included into the four pages booklet but from the titles of the songs and the entire artwork, I guess that their themes are about dark magic, Satanism and the occult.

In conclusion, I was very happy and surprised by this acquisition. I believe that De Tyrannide Daemonum is a good release and is showing to the world the band’s potential. The time I am writing this text, they have already released two full length albums that i haven’t listened to yet, so i wish they continued working to the same level. If you are a fan of old school, straightforward, raw and fast Black Metal, you will appreciate this one a lot.