Have you ever heard of a band so dangerous that their Instagram handle warns you to tread cautiously? If you haven’t, let me introduce you to the Finnish fast and furious heavy metal act TYRANTTI. If you’re not careful, their music can be highly addictive and has the power to create a time loop straight to the ’80s. The trio is now releasing their sophomore album, “Orjaplaneetta,” a sci-fi concept album, released via Playground Music, on February 26th, 2021.
In comparison to their self-titled debut, “Orjaplaneetta” is calculated and allowed the band to experiment a little bit more with their sound. That’s clear when it comes down to the consistency of this record but more about that later! The intro track has a very memorable melodic-yet-short line that’s the perfect build-up to the lead track, “Aja!,” which makes a rumbling start to the record. The song includes searing guitars, high-pitched vocals, and a lot of pedal to the metal. Continuing with the more melodic “Veritiikeri,” TYRANTTI show their craftmanship with a powerful chorus, a compelling guitar solo, and altogether an infectious track that puts a smile on your face.
Power ballad, “Toinen maailma,” starts off with a mellow strumming guitar but like a true heavy metal track, gains strength after the first verse, where power chords change the mood. The strong chorus makes this the kind of track where you’d pull out your phone’s torch or a lighter at a gig and wave your hands to create atmosphere. The most impressive drumming is easily found in “Matkalla vapauteen,” which changes the pace of the record again. “Feeniks” has the mandatory speed/power metal scream kicking off the song and makes up for 3 minutes of energetic metal; pounding drums, fast riffs, and a commanding chorus.
While “Valon uhka” is a more traditional song, “Tulella merkitty” is a more melodic track which leans a bit more towards the IRON MAIDEN-side of the spectrum of heavy metal. If I’m not mistaken, this track features guitarist Henkka as a singer, which again offers some variety in this record. Title track “Orjaplaneetta,” however, is the song that surprised me the most. The song is an 11-minute epic, that has progressive elements in it and it’s the song that for me ties the whole album together. What’s excellent to me is that the band allowed to experiment with their sound and identity, and composed something not many bands in their genre would repeat. In the beginning of this record, I mentioned something about consistency, and this becomes clear in the last track as the melody line in the intro track gets repeated and experimented with. The outro is a more hopeful version of the intro track, with an epic kick to it, concluding the story.
Now, this is a concept album and if your Finnish (like mine) is only so-so, you might not really understand the complete picture. However, arguably, I do think that through the different moods and atmosphere of this album you get soaked in and somewhat get the gist of it. In general, Nahka Sami explained in our interview that “Orjaplaneetta” (Planet of the Slaves) is set in a dystopian post-apocalyptic world where machines have overtaken humanity. While the album doesn’t have a specific narrative or a specific story, the tracks are all aligned to that theme, which makes it a bit easier for international crowds to follow the record without having to miss a narrative of some sort.
All-in-all, TYRANTTI have really matured in their sophomore release and truly experimented with their sound and with it to bring it to the next level, making this album not only very consistent but also very diverse. It has those fast and catchy songs that we could find on their debut effort, such as “Aja!” and “Veritiikeri,” but it also has some more melodic tracks like “Tulella merkitty” and they show a more progressive edge in their epic finale, “Orjaplaneetta.” Don’t get me wrong, these tracks still have that specific throwback Thursday sound which TYRANTTI is known for and they are not necessarily re-inventing the wheel, however, that nostalgia is what makes their music entertaining and extremely fun to listen to in times as dark as these. Danger and leather aside, this record is 666% infectious, deadly metal and if you like the early days of bands like JUDAS PRIEST and IRON MAIDEN, “Orjaplaneetta” will surely make you smile!
Written by Laureline Tilkin
Tracklist
- Intro
- Aja!
- Veritiikeri
- Toinen maailma
- Matkalla vapauteen
- Feeniks
- Valon uhka
- Tulella merkitty
- Orjaplaneetta
Lineup
Nahka Sami – Vocals & bass
Henkka – Guitars & vocals
Paha-Tapio – Drums
Label
Playground Music
