By: Daniela Patrizi
Tyranny Is Tyranny | website | facebook | twitter | bandcamp |
Released on June 13, 2015 via Phratry Records
There are two things I know about Tyranny Is Tyranny:
1) Every song this band release has a deep political/social message – just think that the band’s name is the title of chapter 4 of the book A People’s History of the United States where the author, the political scientist Howard Zinn, presents the American history through the eyes of the common people rather than political and economic elites.
2) Every album they release is a mix of genres: they label themselves as post-noise rock but their sound is also full of motivational post-hardcore jams with punk, noise, post-rock, some sludge and scream elements attesting the band ability to push the envelope and deliver a sound that is so unique and strong that it’s very difficult to tag.
For those of you that still don’t know who they are, Tyranny Is Tyranny is a four-piece band from Madison, WI. They released their stunning debut album, Let It Come From Whom It May, last November 2013 (review here), whose central theme was the dismantling of capitalism. The band is about to release a new powerful full length titled The Rise of Disaster Capitalism that can be considered a kind of continuum of the debut record in their fight against capitalism. The title itself comes from the book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism written by the Canadian author Naomi Klein where the author, among other things, claims that companies have learnt to profit from disasters and the fact that some leader “exploit crises to push through controversial exploitative policies while citizens are too emotionally and physically distracted by disasters or upheavals to mount an effective resistance”. The quote the band use to present the new record is quite explicit: “Extreme violence has a way of preventing us from seeing the interests it serves.”
As they did with the first album the band provide a booklet with the description of each song theme and I invite you to carefully read them to better get into the mood of the album. You can agree or not with what the quartet claims and denounce, but they will make you think about what’s around us since we all are surrounded by capitalism.
Exclusive première of the album opener ‘Or Does It Explode?’
From the musical point of view The Rise of Disaster Capitalism is composed by five songs spread over about 45 minutes of noise and heavy sound, but it doesn’t miss a melancholic vein like the one you’ll find in ‘Pillar of Cloud, Pillar of Fire’, which is one my favourite tracks. ‘Pillar of Cloud, Pillar of Fire’ is also the song where I recognize the most complex mix of sounds and it shows the talent of the band in the perfect execution.
All the songs have a brilliant dynamism and they are characterized by melodic guitar riffs that are blended with sludgier guitars and catchy drum beats. The harsh vocals from three of the band members take all these elements together and complete them adding emotions that arrive directly into the listener heart.
The Rise of Disaster Capitalism is an album that must be experienced from the beginning to the end to get its mood and for this reason it will require time to be fully understood. It’s also hard to pick only one track as representative of the whole record: from the opening ‘Or Does It Explode?’ you’ll be transported in a world so powerful of noisy chaos that you’ll look for a moment to rest before finding yourself lost in the sonic ride that Tyranny Is Tyranny delivers so well. The chaos ends with the closing ‘One of the Victory Will Defeat You’ that might be my favourite song where melodic yet heavy guitar riffs win against the noisy sound. ‘One of the Victory Will Defeat You’ is full of melancholic melodies with rock-solid foundations that vary between delicate and thunderous. Tyranny Is Tyranny focus on dynamics, repetition, and the dismantling of capitalism: highly recommended.
