Band:	Tyrant's Kall
Album:	Dagon
Style:	Death doom metal
Release date:	May 2012

01. The Call Of The Tyrant
02. Ia Cthulhu
03. Dagon
04. Mankind's Damnation
05. Slimy Existence
06. Shrieks
07. The Swamps
08. The Whisperer [bonus]

"Ia Cthulhu, Ia Dagon!" Yep, Lovecraft it is. Today we have a look at Tyrant's Kall's debut album Dagon from 2012, re-released on LP with a different song order and a bonus track this year. The band is from Belgium and plays old schoolish doom metal with some death influences, resembling Candlemass and Black Sabbath at times. Hell, this old school stuff has become a thing recently.

The album starts off with an instrumental opener, "The Call Of The Tyrant". After the third time you thought that now finally the vocals kick in somewhere, you just accept that this song remains instrumental. Nice track though. Apart from that one, Dagon has its weakest tracks at the beginning, namely "Ia Cthulhu" and "Dagon". While the first isn't particularly special and a rush-through-it song, the title track features clean vocals that initially made me give up on the album's Cthulhu mythos in the first place. Should have mentioned it earlier, the female vocalist here uses mostly harsh singing, yet with some clean and crunchy bits here and there. I like her vocals in general, but the clean ones are light and shadows. Really bad on the title track but good and sometimes great on other songs.

The Lovecraftian influence is present throughout the whole album. The lyrics contain some quotes and some mediocre "been here, done that stuff," yet at times they manage to shine like in "Mankind's Damnation", which is my personal favourite track. An interesting example of the lyrics can be found in "The Swamps", where a phrase says "Lock all doors, safety is just an illusion." That was a point where I stopped thinking and immediately asked myself "Why lock the doors then anyway??" But, well, music so far has produced worse stuff.

Musically Dagon explores various tempos and styles, from crunchy doom sounds to Black Sabbath riffs; one may find anything. Besides the guitars, the bass is quite present too, as it is supposed to be in this genre. The songwriting is well thought out and provides some surprises now and then. It's not a masterpiece, but a good and solid display of how one might combine Lovecraft, metal and female voices.

Should I recommend this album? I think so, but as it surely isn't everyone's taste, I'd rather say listen to some tracks first and then decide whether to get this or not. Suitable and most promising examples include "Mankind's Damnation" and "Shrieks". If you are a Lovecraft fan, try it out anyway. The biggest drawback is that I now have to get the image of a gender specific female Cthulhu out of my head again. But, well, I haven't seen him with a dick yet either.