This is the third slab of “hate” from Viennese malcontents Cyruss and kind of a posthumous one. The group split up after two full length albums in 2009 and since then founding members Klaus and Andy went on to form slightly crustier outfit Desolat. Getting an offer they couldn’t refuse, namely some dates with favourite band Bongzilla they reactivated the Cyruss name in 2017 and very slowly decided during Covid downtime to put together this release comprising of five old numbers which had never been recorded and one new song. Presented here on vinyl among other formats this could well be the last throes of the group who are no doubt concentrating fully on the follow up to debut Desolat album ‘Elegance is an attitude… to shit on,’ as well as work with other projects such as Phal:Angst.
‘Despair’ bounces in quite happily actually with a riff that could have been forged by Therapy? It’s pretty melodic with a neat groove about it but by comparison Andy’s vocals are anything but and on the coarse and distempered side of things. ‘No Survival Can Be Tolerated’ has a stomping heft to the bottom end and mixes some stoner doom and sludge riffage to the caustic and snarling vocals. It’s heavy enough to give the listener a solid whack between the ears and is a short shock to the system before they move into the leaden and sluggish sprawl of one of a couple of longer tracks ‘Rotten Silver.’ Built on slow brooding bass twang and one note guitar gravitas this one crawls with instrumental ballast to craggy, rancid, scab-ridden vocals. Any happiness at the start of the a) side has been forgotten and one is left to cautiously anticipate just what awaits on the flip side.
A bit of an Anarcho guitar jangle emerges on the descriptively entitled ‘From Vienna With Hate.’ From the bondage-trouser pogo a melodic guitar sound that could have escaped from a Buzzcocks single wraps itself around things. Unsurprisingly it is the angry and nihilistic tones of the track that win the battle as it stomps away like a pissed off bull. There’s certainly a mix of styles on the different numbers here, ‘Sweet Revenge’ has more of a laid-back stoned-out instrumental groove to it and its left for the instruments to jam away without vocal interference for a good portion of the song. Once they join in at the half-way mark though it’s a far more embittered experience. It’s left to ‘The Product’ to finish the mini-LP off with a gloomy guitar line and a sinuous brooding presence, the final vocal parts leaving you feeling like you have been bathed in filth.
Apparently the band still occasionally play live occasionally and it seems like the move into Desolat was mainly caused by not having found the right drummer for Cyruss. Although not having heard of them before personally, the PR info suggests they have a bit of a cult status in Austria and the fact they had Dan Swano involved in the mastering here gives the release some extra heft and weight ensuring their swansong is a memorable one.
(7.5/10 Pete Woods)
Leave a Reply