One of the most distinctive bands from the Australian extreme metal scene is undoubtedly Tyrannic from Sydney. The band primarily qualifies itself as a Black Metal act but musically has much more than just that to offer. It effortlessly interweaves their Celtic Frost- and old Samael-based Black Metal with influences from bands like Reverend Bizarre, Black Sabbath and old Cathedral. It is no wonder then that their label on duty, Iron Bonehead Productions, touts them as Black-Doom Cult. Although the last album, ‘Mortuus Decadence’ dates back to 2021, my interlocutor considers that still recent and, as evidenced by the well-refined and comprehensive answers to my questions, takes very much the time to let his dark arts descend upon us…
Hi there and welcome to the pages of The Whispering Darkness. It’s been some time since you guys came out with something new, ‘Mortuus Decadence’ was released back in 2021, so first of all, what’s cooking?
Many thanks for your interest, Felix. ‘Mortuus Decadence’ is still quite new to me as the beauty of the underground and genuine interest in Black metal doesn’t rely on how the album is received within days, weeks, and at the very most, months of its release. People are still discovering it and I’ve had some more correspondence since then to now. The interest is still growing…
But regardless of which, we are nearly finished recording our third full length, which I will reveal more information closer to the date of release. It may come out in 2025(?), realistically, as there is still some minor annoyances and setbacks from life shit and the expected pressing plant delays and such will put some more time into it all. But it’ll happen. In the mean time I am also writing some material for a fourth album, and a few other side releases that aren’t worth mentioning just yet..
Despite the band being formed in 2010, its first feat is from 2013. That means that this year, the first self-titled demo celebrates its first decade. How do you look back on that demo and the ten years that followed?
For me I must insist that it is thirteen years of existence. The time between 2010-2013 is very important, being the band in its infancy, a lot of not knowing what the hell I was doing, but, we were young, there was quite a spark of desperation to create something. A lot of blood and sweat in rehearsals, with only a small circle of about 5 people who were interested in Tyrannic. Twice in those years I was absolutely prepared to take the band no further. The demo finally seeing release in early 2013 was an interesting time. By then we had played our first gig at the end of 2012 and the release had sort of opened up some ‘exposure’ to the Australian scene of Black/Thrash/Death metal bands, and there were some gigs happening. The line-up fell apart in mid 2013 so all of this was so dysfunctional and short-lived. It was only in late 2013 where I didn’t want to rely on anybody or anything anymore, and the vision was a bit more solidified. Perverse Vein of Black Hurst approached me to join on guitar and to bring my unfinished works to fruition so we recorded the ‘Macabre Festival..’ demo which was quickly done, but was just a new beginning. In 2014 we had played some more gigs but had been focusing on getting a more solid, meaningful and powerful recording to represent the true essence of the vision behind Tyrannic. This became what were the two epic songs for the split with Sluggard released some time later in 2016 by Goatowarex. Up to this point so much had happened, but it was definitely the ‘early years’ of the band up to then. How I look at the band from then onward, I don’t know. I just do what I do and try to avoid too much reflection. It’s a bit of a negative thing to me. We’re a sort of ‘under the radar’ kind of band. I don’t see us as a poster-boy Aussie kind of band and I like to keep it that way.
From the first moment I heard Tyrannic, I have been intrigued by the band’s mysterious and versatile sound. It combines First Wave Black Metal with lingering Doom Metal and Speed Metal falsettos. I am very curious to know how this recipe came about. Is there something specific behind it, or is this just a product of everything you like yourself?
I guess a bit of both? I am a fanatic of metal but especially Black metal; nothing comes as close to being as powerful as that one movement. But there are many other bands and projects from other genres that inspired me. I just also wanted to do something a bit weird, different, fucked up. Around the time I started writing the debut demo songs I had become more exposed to the particular writers, artists, works outside of music, all sorts of stuff. For me the band name itself can just be a typical metal band name, and that’s even somewhat the intention, but to me there’s depth behind it, a philosophy, so whilst it’s simple on the surface, there is a lot more to it if you wish to delve. I feel the same applies in music. The lyrics for me had to be heinous, a little difficult for anyone to make clear comprehension out of, somewhat disturbing, emotional, full of hate, anger. The music followed.
Across Tyrannic’s discography, I hear parallels with bands like Abysmal Grief, Ildjarn, Mortuary Drape, Beherit, Celtic Frost, Urfaust, Black Sabbath, Reverend Bizarre… This musical schizophrenia makes me very curious about what you yourself would name as the main musical influences…
A few people have said we sound like Mortuary Drape, I honestly cannot say I am really a fan. They’re ok, certainly not an influence. I don’t even think I heard Abysmal Grief? The rest you’re pretty accurate with I’d say. Accurate enough.
My main influences (especially in the beginning) were Hellhammer/Celtic Frost, Iron Maiden, Burzum, Von, Satyricon, Desaster (‘A Touch of Medieval Darkness’), Nazxul, Deathspell Omega’s Infernal Battles, Samael, diSEMBOWELMENT, Morbid Angel, Black Sabbath, Reverend Bizarre, Cathedral, Beherit. Tons of other stuff, but that’s kind of where it all began.
Australia has traditionally had an interesting extreme metal scene, from the unbridled violence of Sadistik Exekution to the sophistication of, say, Alchemist or StarGazer. I’m not comparing you guys to those bands, but Tyrannic feels like it’s in the middle of those worlds: with an overtly raw core but with many creative excesses. How do you see your position in the Australian metal scene?
It’s quite far out from all sides of the Australian scene. We have had the privilege to play with some great bands over the years, but we have always done our own thing and I prefer it that way. I have no interest in chasing the formula of what one thinks we have to do in order to be ‘respected’ in the same realm as these bands. It is quite a shallow be-all-end-all for some people. My drive comes from creation in my own personal world where no one else is around me. People can appreciate it, and that’s great, but they are over there, and I’m over here. I have nothing but respect for the majority of the Australian extreme metal bands that have made traction in the rest of the world, as over here is a very isolated place; it’s far from easy to find motivation when unlike Europe or the states you can easily set up tours, play anywhere, ‘network’ and be spoiled for choice with what label may release your album. Doing a band here takes a lot more, and so much energy to continue what you’re doing.
Before starting Tyrannic I went to gigs and saw bands like Nazxul, Drowning the Light, Pestilential Shadows, Erebus Enthroned, Stargazer, Portal, diSEMBOWELMENT/d.usk/Inverloch, etc etc but I honestly never wanted to come off like I was just doing another band like that and wanting to automatically be a part of something else that already exists. That was their thing, this is mine.
Despite being very obviously the same band, I find the musical difference between the debut album ‘Ethereal Sepulchre’ and the ‘Exterminating Angel’ EP on the one hand and the second album ‘Mortuus Decadence’ on the other to be quite significant. Both in production/overall sound and in the somewhat less angular/more organic character of the latter album. How would you yourself characterise your musical development?
I definitely understand where you’re coming from. Honestly, a lot of this stems from us simply working with what we are given. Although oddly enough, the production from high tech to ‘lower’ is going backwards, and sort of degrading each release, (un)intentionally(?).
For example, the demos were recorded with friends that offered to help us, for free. Or rather, you just buy them a few beers and they help you out. The split with Sluggard was our first ‘professional’ recording and still to this day I think was captured perfectly. This was also our first time contacting Damon Good from Mournful Congregation, Cauldron Black Ram, Stargazer, Martire, to master our recording (he mixed and mastered Mortuus Decadence), and he has mastered our recordings since. But with Ethereal Sepulchre, I think I got carried away and didn’t think too much about how the album should sound, I just was focused on doing a first full length album without thinking too much about it, it ended up to me being a bit overproduced and so dry. It almost sounded like a typical recording that ticks the boxes in terms of quality but is still a bit one dimensional. The album was received well, nonetheless, and despite my little gripes with how it sounds, the songs spoke what I wanted and I am glad it was finished and released. It is for those who truly appreciate it and that’s the bottom line.
Exterminating Angel didn’t intend to be murky and raw (definitely not murky I think it sounds way too much that way), but it certainly just somehow fit. I had reformed the band at the time under a new name ‘Exterminating Angel’ in order to shed skin, start something new, something more fucked up than before, which I was joined by Wraith from Nazxul on bass. It only had a similar vision to Tyrannic in the sense that it was within my capacity, but I wanted to go above and beyond, and not just be a gradual step from Ethereal Sepulchre. I was so sick of that album at the time that if I was going to do another Black metal recording, it would really need to be worth something. When we finished recording he insisted to me that it is a Tyrannic recording, and that I should continue under the name. As it is an interesting continuation of the band. So I did.
Then, times were desperate, and I had less money or access to any decent recording studio, so the guitars and bass were recorded with Wraith, and the drums with B of Sluggard/Luminiferous Aether/Living Sin, so this was all simply working with what I had in order to make this desperate recording work. I am pleased with how it turned out. At the same time, I am never entirely satisfied. I didn’t want to just revert to recording raw black metal like the ever growing trend of youtube bedroom bands popping up out of nowhere, so after that became motivation to do another full length, being Mortuus Decadence. This sound was to me a mixture of the production value of Ethereal Sepulchre (a decent, big sounding full length), with the atmosphere and balls of Exterminating Angel (but less murky), which to me sounded great in the end. Our next album however will have different production. I definitely don’t want to succumb to thinking that there is a recording and production style we have to sit with. A lot of this also depends on the song writing, and the songs for the next album will already be different to Mortuus Decadence.
I have a bit of trouble understanding the concept behind ‘Mortuus Decadence’. Of course, I understand that this can sometimes be the charm of art, but in this case I’m curious about the idea behind the album. “Decadence” means the moral/cultural decay through excessive indulgence in pleasure, but its relation to “mortuus”, Latin for “dead”, is a bit unclear to me. Can you take me into the world behind your second album?
An embrace of meaninglessness and the path to Death, madness and perversity in the face of your own demise.
There seems to be a clearly recognizable common thread of underground ethos through the band’s appearance. From the covers marked by black/purple as well as the (reasonable) anonymity of the band members and the black-and-white band photos complete with scythes, bullet belts and tombstones. How important is holding up this aesthetic to the band’s identity?
It is what you make of it. But that being said I know what it means and no one will take that from me. The artwork, photos, design, is and always will be a part of the band.
Band photos on album art is simple; it is the artwork you create yourself. I am a big fan of landscape paintings and stuff like that but I wanted to do something a bit different, and whilst any whinging internet metal fan that has a gripe for black metal can say bands taking photos in corsepaint is pretentious, well go back to your hiding spots. This is Black metal! It has no place for normal looking people with baggy jeans and shorts and hands in their pockets. Fuck off.
I also don’t have five grand to give to an artist for an album cover.
In terms of label partners, you’ve worked with some great labels, including GoatowaRex and Iron Bonehead Productions. Especially with the latter, Tyrannic seems to fit in perfectly from a musical point of view… Looking back on those partnerships, do you feel they may have opened doors or reached audiences you would have had a harder time reaching otherwise?
Seance records (the label you forgot to mention) is where it all started. They have been close friends for years and when they at the time ran Sydney’s ONLY Black metal store, I was a customer that bought half of my collection there at the time.
Since the beginning of Tyrannic in 2010 I had been showing them recordings of rehearsals, and eventually of the scratch tracks of the 2013 demo which actually began recording in 2011.. They had been a huge support for us since then, and it is an honour to have them release our albums on CD, a proper Black metal label in Australia.
I think without a doubt Iron Bonehead is for starters a bigger label, based in Europe, and releases other kinds of metal so automatically opens up to a much larger audience. Mortuus Decadence was received well and as far as I am aware we will do our next album with Iron Bonehead as they have been great to work with.
I still remain in contact with Goatowarex and it means a lot that they have released the split LP with Sluggard and the very limited LP version of Ethereal Sepulchre. I think we had quite a lot of exposure to fans in Asia at the time, and I’ve had the privilege to meet some of them who have travelled to Australia and have attended our gigs here.
I mentioned earlier some bands I thought I recognised in your music. That multicoloured nature of Tyrannic’s music makes me curious about what I will find in your record collection. What is currently on your record player and what have been your most recent purchases?
As we speak I am listening to Pagan Altar – Mythical and Magical (but I got that a while ago). There’s a lot of ‘heavy metal’ I don’t really like, especially new bands redoing this kind of style, BUT for the ones I like within the genre I think there is so much more to them. Iron Maiden, Pagan Altar, Angel Witch, Blitzkrieg (Buried Alive), Hell, Death SS, Jaguar (Axe Crazy), all have some kind of influence over Tyrannic throughout its existence.
Recent additions would be the new Clandestine Blaze album, Abigor – Fractal Possession, Sunnyboys – self titled album, Jethro Tull – Benefit, Antaeus – Condemnation, Blackdeath – Also Sprach Das Chaos, the latest Psychward tape, Storm – Nordavind, Tears for Fears – Music from the big chair, Azaxul – Echoes of Dreariness, Walknut – Graveforests and Their Shadows, Black Funeral – Circle of Phantoms, Black Grail – VIIII.
You guys have played a number of shows, but most of them were with Death Metal bands, including with Incantation, Charnel Altar and some of my favourite Australian bands Cauldron Black Ram and Altars. Was this a conscious decision and just feels right or was this a product of chance and opportunity?
The minimal Black metal scene of New South Wales alone is very rare with gigs. Recently Pestilential Shadows played, but that was their own gig being planned for some time, and not long before that we played the Incantation and Cauldron Black Ram gigs, so, that was basically the one proper Black metal gig in the past few years in Sydney and it just didn’t work out for us to be on that particular date.
It’s not really my choice to play with Death metal bands; they’re the gigs we were offered that to me had line-ups of integrity. Australia has always had more of a thriving Death metal scene and throughout the years when looking for gigs they were the more active bands on the live front that we would play with. Black metal gigs happen only every few years here. We don’t play live all the time either.
You also recently recorded a rehearsal set of a few songs without any audience, which can be found on YouTube. Noteworthy is the good sound and the fantastic doomy vibe in the set. With what thought or reason did you record this?
These DIY gigs with or without an audience is something we have been doing since 2015. This has always been more of an interest for a live appearance as opposed to relying on just regular gigs. In fact we originally did this for the first time in 2015 because less and less extreme metal gigs were being organized. It wasn’t so easily possible to play anymore. But it also goes hand in hand with organizing to play under our own terms, environment, atmosphere. Things like that.
I normally like to close with a question about what we can expect from the band in the future, but I started with that for a change. So I’d like to close this interview by giving you the last word…
Thank you very much for your interest in Tyrannic. It’s greatly appreciated and I highly encourage you to continue your work for underground extreme metal publication!
