Tribe of Pazuzu - King of all Demons

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TRIBE OF PAZUZU is a Black/Death metal band based out of Canada and th United States formed back in 2018 and this is their second EP entitled “King of All Demons” through the Vic Records label, and to be released on March 6^th 2020.  The album comprises 5 tracks. Once again, I was not familiar with this band before performing the review and I was intrigued to see what type of blackened death metal this project was known for. I also realized it had a very familiar face in Flo Mounier, a legendary drummer in our neck of the woods

The opener which happens to be the title track is quite the powerhouse not only in the machine-gun laden drums but with extremely powerful guitar work. The vocals really have both tinges of black metal and death metal, somewhere in the middle ground. This type of vocal usually appeals to me as it has just enough anger and does not goo too deep in the growl department or too high pitch in the shrieking domain. There are some fairly technical parts as well in the song amidst the violent passages. One thing that stands out here is how the guitar solo is crystal clean and just pierced through the whole sonic dissonance the song “subjects” the listener to. A great start to the EP.

“Summoning Rituals” has a bit of Jeff Hanneman’s distinct guitar style in the early moments. It transitions more to traditional high-speed death metal approach. I guess using the terms old school and modern together may seem paradoxical, but this is indeed the case. The style goes back to MORBID ANGEL and the Floridian age of that influential period. Yet this sounds amazingly fresh and modern.

The following song “The Burning of Diseased Empires” is a thrashier piece that rips through from start to finish, blistering the eardrums in the process. By all means, even though I joke about the violence found herein, the overall structure of the song makes it very easy to listen to, especially if you are used to this type of intensity.

“Crucify the Deceivers” has a bit of slower side to it and in some aspects of its sound brought me back to the glory days of DEATH and OBITUARY. It’s hard for me to pinpoint exactly what made me think of these nostalgic, key bands from my late-teen years but it just did. The core of the song really reverberates in the chest in an extremely nice way. Last but not least, if you miss the good old blasting style of SLAYER, the final track “Retaliation & Wrath” will make your bones rattle and your neck spring forward in excitement and appreciation.

Even if this album is fairly short (as most Eps are), the intensity is maintained from the first note to the last and I guarantee you will strongly enjoy this effort as any of the amazing releases from 2019. Mark my words, this EP will be in the death metal charts of 2020.

Songwriting: 9
Musicianship: 9
Memorability: 9
Production: 9