Ceremony (Neth) - Tyranny from Above

Artist: Ceremony (Neth)
Release Title: Tyranny from Above
Year: 1993 (2016 reissue)
Label: Cyber Records (Vic Records reissue)
Genre: Old-School Death Metal
Tracklisting:
Original-
1. Inner Demon
2. Drowned in Terror
3. Solitary World
4. Ceremonial Resurrection
5. When Tears Are Falling
6. Humanity
7. Beyond the Boundaries of This World
8. Tribulation Foreseen

Reissue-
1. Inner Demon
2. Drowned in Terror
3. Solitary World
4. Ceremonial Resurrection
5. When Tears Are Falling
6. Humanity
7. Beyond the Boundaries of This World
8. Tribulation Foreseen
9. Essence of Alternation
10. Immortality of the Gods
11. Tyranny from Above
12. Humanity
13. Tribulation Foreseen

Formed in 1989 in South Holland, Dutch death metal legends Ceremony set out a path of destruction in their brief career with an absolutely astounding early release effort before disbanding for two decades and only reforming just recently. Still a stand-out album after all these years, the groups’ debut album was released in 1993 before a remastered reissue with bonus material September 16, 2016 on Vic Records.

At this stage of the genre’s evolution, it was quite obviously going to be a stylistically familiar assault to the American acts populating the scene, and that’s what becomes quite prominent here. The ravenous riff-work here comes through so clearly out of that primitive, dirty thrashing style while intertwined with churning, sprawling rhythms for that energetic burst of intensity and aggression typically found here while also formulating that anguished, churning sound. That this mixture can work well in either going through the varying tempos on display, as this one manages to go from the simplistic, straightforward sprawl that tackles the material at a slower crawl while letting the swirling rhythms take center stage, or blasting away quite viciously with a faster thrash-based series of rhythms that are given quite a prominent display here that makes for quite a stylized American bent to the material by tackling many of the various rhythms and patterns these approaches can bring out of their material. The rumbling charge present here due to these elements makes for a highly effective and enjoyable burst throughout here, yet the fact that it remains so vital and close-minded to the American structure at this stage is a tad disconcerting with there not really much variety here beyond the tempos as the display and attack is so focused on running through the American format that it becomes somewhat easy to forget their identity at times. That isn’t much of an issue here considering not only the time-frame of the release but also the sheer competency of the album in general, but it is something to take in consideration with this one.

Seeing as how this one doesn’t offer up much more than just a surprisingly competent and wholly enjoyable burst of old-school death metal the American way, that alone is more than enough to take this one into consideration here for stalwart fanatics of the genre with this here being quite easily the version of the album to get for those that do follow the genre as a whole.

Score: 93/100

Does it sound good? Order the reissue from here:
http://vicrecords.com/shop/index.php?id_product=81&controller=product