Apparently Tyraels is not possessive but plural. Don’t know what to do with that, but it got me thinking on what is the motivation behind Rottweiler Records’ latest release, the debut album of Tyraels Ascension “Hell Walker.” The project was born from the partnership of guitarists Sean Searls (Bury Your Burdens) and Kevin McNeil (Deathbreaker). They recruited vocalist Alex Theeson and Morgan Hoehne (Your Hands Write History) as session drummer for this release. Based on the pedigree of the musicians, I am expecting some sort of metalcore, a genre that is crowded and not well differentiated. But why do we have Tyrarels ascending? Oh, wait – is it a single ascension of all of the Tyraels?!
I looked to scripture to see if I could find anything about Tyrael. Nothing there. Not even in the Apocrypha. So, going to the interwebs, I found the thread that I think pulls it through. In the game series “Diablo,” there is apparently a heavenly character Tyrael. Singular. I apologize if you already spotted that, but I haven’t played video games for a long while and am seriously out of the loop. Could this be a deliberate play on a video game character? I think so – and I will tell you after I tell you about the music.
My expectation was correct that we have a metalcore-ish album, but thankfully it has some differentiation from the crowd. Given that the band was conceived by a pair of guitarists, TA succeeds in rising above the chop and stop standard syncopated metalcore, delivering some tasty melodic guitar work, pulling emotional strings beyond the usual raw aggression. I almost want to call it melocore, but I have a feeling that genre has been taken and copyrighted. They remind me a lot of War of Ages in their approach where it leans more into the metal side. It is a quite enjoyable and engaging.
The songwriting has a metalcore vibe with many sections juxtaposed together with high energy and pummeling drums. The difference with TA is the higher lead guitar to vocal ratio leading to more harmonic rhythm and guitar shredding than the average early 2000s metalcore outfit. The breakdowns that occur are usually changes in riffs with a few going down to an acoustic interlude before building back up. All in all rather good songwriting but found many endings to be an afterthought that ruins the moment that they worked so hard to build up to.
With a pair of guitarists as your brain trust, you would imagine that the music is guitar focused. There is a lot of shredding on here, but thankfully it is musically sensible and not competing too much with the vocals. The acoustic guitar work that shows up prominently in “Prelude to War” and in the epic “Inferno” sounds repetitive but has a hypnotic effect. The vocals are on point hardcore vocals that unfortunately play much in the same sonic space as some of the guitar work, making it hard at times to pull out. The drums were good for the most part, but sounded a little low in the mix, blurring the definition of some of the more technical guitar riffs.
The production is the main drawback to this release. The guitar riffs often lacked clear articulation and felt fuzzy. Hard hitting drums can help with that articulation. I also found that the lead guitar work lacked an aggressive quality that I think would have elevated the character of the album. There is some good songwriting and great playing on here, but the mix just doesn’t do it justice.
My favorite song on the album is “Inferno,” the epic song that showcases all that is good for TA. It starts with an acoustic guitar that gives rise to some nice dueling lead guitar work, keeping a rather somber anticipation of what is to come. After a little over a minute when you wonder if this will go on for the whole song, the flood gates open with a hardcore roar and some enjoyable melodic riffs. There is some meandering through variations of the riffs and chords, twin guitars and a nice galloping solo section. The song continues to build in emotional intensity until it fades into an extended acoustic interlude. The acoustic work hypnotizes like a snake charmer and just as you are about to nod off, the melodic metalcore roars back for an epic flourish. Although this song shows the good, the lackluster ending with a simple fade out on some choice lead work felt cheap.
So why the video game connection with this band? Well, releasing at the same time as the album is a video game based on the album. Looking at the trailer, it reminds me of Legend of Zelda games, fighting monsters in a 2-D map. One of my favorite video game memories is playing LoZ while listening to “…And Justice for All.” This time the metal comes preloaded in chip-tune form!
This is a good debut album for some very talented musicians. They know their genre and how to build the sound they want, but I think some production hiccups hold this back from being great. That being said, I think that this has the potential for some killer video game music. I would definitely recommend for metalcore fans, particularly of a melodic or shredding kind.
Rating: 7.5/10
Written by Sean Bailey
Tracklist
1 – The Prophecy
2 – Descent
3 – Architect
4 – The Dead Lights
5 – Prelude To War
6 – The Art Of War
7 – When The Hero Dies
8 – Holy Fire
9 – Cutting Ties
10 – Twin Angels
11 – Inferno
12 – Time Of The Witcher
Tyraels Ascension is:
Kevin McNeil – lead/rhythm guitar, bass, backing vocals
Sean Searls – lead/rhythm Guitar
Alex Theesen – vocals
Guests:
Morgan Hoehne (Your Hands Write History) – drums
Dustin Cichosz – vocals on “The Art Of War”
Release Date: July 26th 2024
Record Label: Rottweiler Records
Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Spotify | Bandcamp | Steam (videogame)
Lyric video for ‘Holy Fire’
Video for ‘Hellwalker’ (Game Trailer)