Thou

Hailing from Louisiana, it’s not a surprise that Thou offer up grimy metal/doom on Tyrant. With fellow bruisers like Eyehategod, Crowbar, and Down before them, Thou take the southern metal sound and make it their own, thanks to a varied field of influences.

The title-track leads off and immediately the listener is consumed with slow bludgeoning riffs and down-tempo rhythms that bring to mind Black Sabbath. With the addition of scathing vocals Thou unleashes a dark, heavy, and demonic concoction unto the listeners’ ears. “With a Cold, Life Extinguishing Elegance” continues this direction, further showcasing the talents on the guitar with flourishes of other noodling interspersed.

On the other end of things, “Monstrance” is absolutely demolishing. Thou picks up the pace and just packs each riff with a - pardon the pun - monstrous punch. It falls somewhere between Slayer, Burzum, and Neurosis. “What Blood Still Flows From These Veins” scales it back to a punishing crawl of doomy riffs and the closer “Acceptance” rescinds the visceral sounds to rekindle the ears with a soft post-rock inspired sounds.

Tyrant is a gritty and powerful display of what black and doom metal from the U.S. can be when done correctly. Sure, Europe gets all the glory, but Thou proves that they are just as much a force to be reckoned with behind Tyrant.

8.5 / 10 — Michael