Tyraels Ascension – Hell Walker Review
By GardensTale
We’ve had a pretty wide variety in album-complementing media over the years. I’ve personally dealt with a graphic novel where all the text was the lyrics of the album, and an album where every track got a music video which combined into a short film. More than a few bands have released novellas to accompany the music, such as Rush and Coheed and Cambria. But this is the first time I’ve run into a band releasing a video game counterpart to their new record.1 Tyraels Ascension has big plans for their debut Hell Walker,2 and one of those plans is this game, to be released in parallel on Steam. I haven’t played the game, so I cannot in good faith review it,3 so we shall focus on the music instead.
Tyraels Ascension tread that fine line between metalcore and melodic death metal where bands like Darkest Hour operate. The focus is entirely on the vocals and the twin guitars, and the latter are easily the best part of the album. Thrashy aggression spews forth chug-laden riffs that get the blood pumping, only for pathos to take over when soaring leads yank the heartstrings. It’s similar to the formula that once made In Flames great, but the execution on Hell Walker elevates the album above the masses. “Holy Fire” is a great example, starting with a rapid-fire assault and gradually mixing in more melodic elements and harmonies to excellent dynamic effect. Even the Spanish guitar used here and there is tasteful and doesn’t feel too out of place, and the twin leads that close out “Inferno” are phenomenal. The guitarwork is invigorating and energetic in all the right ways, and almost makes up for everything else.
Because there’s not a whole lot to love about everything else. The main vocals are acceptable at least, a genre-standard meathead roar straight out of knucklehead hardcore, but any and all deviations from this drop almost immediately into an abyss of cringe. Thankfully, this is not too frequent altogether, but “The Dead Lights” turns me off almost immediately with the weepy woe-is-me cleans, and “Architect” is even worse, with a 20-second bridge ruining the entire song like a squirming insect in the middle of your dinner. These cleans are so off-key as to feel entirely amateur too, and they are as unwanted as they are poorly executed. Most of the tracks remain blissfully free of this blight, but it triggers an immediate and intense dislike when even a hint of it occurs.
And sweet Jesus, what did they do to the production? Hell Walker is a classic case of ‘the better your equipment, the worse it sounds.’ This is predominantly because of the almost constant clipping, which is more prevalent and aggravating than anything I’ve heard since Akoma back in 2017. Don’t let the DR score fool you: the interlude and outro pull the average up considerably, with the rest of the tracks landing a 3 or 4. The mix manages to pull apart the bricks enough to keep the wall from sounding like mush, but the drums are as impactful as a distant slap on wet cardboard and I often strain to hear the bass at all.
It’s really a shame, since there’s plenty of promise to Tyraels Ascension, provided a morsel of the -core does not give you anaphylaxis. It’s lyrically self-indulgent, but not annoyingly so. The songwriting is absolutely solid and I cannot stress enough how good the guitars are. But they really are doing all the work in pulling the album up from production hell and vocal choices that are questionable at best. If the band takes whatever effort went into the video game and puts it into fixing those issues, this band might put out something worthwhile in the future. This one is at best a commute spin or two, provided you’re super hungry for some great guitar work and able to look past the flaws.
Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Rottweiler Records
Websites: tyraelsascension.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/TyraelsAscension
Releases Worldwide: August 2nd, 2024
#25 #2024 #Akoma #AmericanMetal #Aug24 #CoheedAndCambria #DarkestHour #HellWalker #InFlames #IronMaiden #MelodicDeathMetal #Metalcore #Review #Reviews #RottweilerRecords #Rush #TyraelsAscension
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