Woe Of Tyrants

On this third release, Ohio's Woe of Tyrants deliver all of the frantic riffs, blazing melodies and intense musicianship that should accompany a death metal album, but something doesn't feel quite right. While Threnody is a strong effort, it doesn't live up to their previous record, the refreshing, thrash-infused Kingdom of Might. This time around, WoT have taken a turn towards a more generic metalcore sound, gaining them comparisons to the likes of Darkest Hour and Between the Buried and Me ("Venom Eye" even features guest BTBAM guitarist Dustie Waring). And while this style of metal is widely admired, it's disappointing to those familiar with Kingdom, a record that proved WoT are capable of so much more than BTBAM-esque amateur metal. Kingdom has such a strong atmosphere, aided by Chris Catanzaro's vocals, but here the vocals are less guttural death and more screamy core. WoT set the bar high with Kingdom; it was just too high for them to surpass or, at the very least, match.