Hypertension is a new three-piece thrash band out of the
great land of Sweden. While you could say a certain Swedish band is one of
their main inspirations, Hypertension draws from a variety of rough
speed/thrash/black metal groups. “Primeval Tyrants Prevails” is mostly a thrash
record, but it has something that a lot of thrash metal misses these days: pure
evil. The best comparison is Slayer’s “Hell Awaits”. Sure, it’s violent, fast,
and aggressive like every other thrash album, but it also conjures an
atmosphere that it unparalleled. This is something Hypertension manages to do
on their debut, and it is impressive. This sound is created in equal part by
the vocals, the production, and the riffs. The singing is wholly derivative of
Cronos, and it couldn’t be more fitting. The sound quality is laid back, but it
works. This really enforces the punch in the bass drum. The guitars are not
particularly sharp or crisp, but they’re authentic sounding. It’s very much a
“plug in, crank up the volume, and play” scenario. And the only way this really
works is if the band delivers quality riffs. Those simplistic, speed metal
riffs that dominated early black metal are endless on this release.
As usual, this sound is best embodied on the opener, “Born
of the Realms of Darkness”, which after a short intro, bursts into a frenetic
fury of riffs. Even at these ridiculously high tempos, the bass cuts through
the mix well, and is quite audible amidst Henrik Låsgårdh’s grunts. As the song
slows down, it sounds cavernous, as though there is a huge echo going on. This
is a prime example of how the band manages to sound like they are doing Satan’s
work themselves. With the bar set high early on the album, Hypertension never
relents. You’ll struggle to find anything as memorable or interesting as the
opener, but that’s only because that track is so strong. Overall, most songs
tend to follow the same formula: combine Venom, Slayer, Bathory, and a bit of
Celtic Frost, and you come up with up with this evil conjuration. There are a few ways the band mixes it up though. Some of the riffs on "Across The Holy Graves" definitely have a bit of a NWOBHM, and sound quite a bit more old-school (if that's even possible) than the rest of the record. In addition, the next track, "Everlasting Exile", opens with some dissonant chords that would make second wave black metal fans happy. Regardless of what the band does, however, they manage to do it justice.
Overall, Hypertension has created a thrash record that is
completely out of the norm, and they did it by going back to the genre’s roots.
It’s hard to imagine any fan of extreme metal not loving this album. It’s
amazing that this album has gone largely unnoticed, as it should appeal to
metal fans universally.
Highlights
"Born of the Realms of Darkness"
"Everlasting Exile"
"Empire of Yore"
Final Rating
4.5/5 or 90%.