It’s quickly clear where we’re heading. Hard hitting death metal breaks into the brief sample and save a break here and there, this is about solid and unrelenting punishment. It’s well done and all in sync but whilst drilling holes in walls, it’s not outstanding to the extent of taking us to brutal death metal wonderland. Aversions Crown are from Australia but I detected a Swedishness about the chorus line in “Hollow Planet”. I liked the airy riff which accompanied this crunchy darkness and gives it an extra flavour. But it’s the dredging guitar which seems to come from underneath the floor which captured my attention. “The Glass Sentient” continues in frenetic style. Aversions Crown give it their all and thrash their way like razor blades through an unsuspecting crowd. There’s an outer worldly feel, and the colourful death metal turns to djent as is the modern way. The brutality of this album reminded me of the many unsung Malaysian bands who create apocalyptic worlds through pure, unadulterated death metal. This isn’t cerebral and there’s a fair degree of bludgeoning. Some tracks like “Conqueror” ring out, break out and make impact. At times it’s as if there are swirling shards of glass flying around with occasional subtle touches. One thunderous burst follows another as the juggernaut continues in its shadowy and dark way. I can’t fault the energy nor the attempt to break it up but I found that “Tyrant” lacked continuity and didn’t thrill me as much as this bout of adrenaline should have. It’s all about the breaks and changes. A quick stop in “Overseer” and we’re back to growling, gurning and twirling heaviness. The occasional colourful guitar section intervenes but it’s largely the same brutal and deathly assault on our senses. Although there are changes, it’s only at the end that I detected an atmosphere and a bit of variety that I could relate to. “Faith Collapse” has more of a song structure.
“Tyrant” is fine and has plenty of energy, but in spite of this the constituent parts didn’t hang together for me and I found it largely mind-numbing.
(6.5/10 Andrew Doherty)
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