Crimson Sunsets - Sic Semper Tyrannis

Crimson Sunsets are back after 20-something years to finish what they started back in 1994. The band broke loose after their second demo in 1999 and recently got back together to record their first full length. Why now? Good question! Well… ”who the fuck cares”, could be a proper answer.

The lads from Greece nailed it. Doom-death at its finest with tons of dark, mellow interleaves creating a haunting atmosphere. "Sic Semper Tyrannis" or in free translation, “Bad outcomes should always befall tyrants”, is the name of the album, and the title track draws first blood! Really heavy guitars with an even heavier main riff used as proper soil for the rest to come and complete the puzzle. Loud and fat bass, following the guitars, creating a big concrete wall of sound. The track alone has dynamics that tend to make you move your head at its beat. The drums help a lot to that. Basic but soooo to the point. No fuzz needed here. Just simple beats to keep all of them together. All the above mentioned along with the Entombed-ish vocals that have an excellent flow, make this first track a perfect choice to open the album.

Second track underway. 'Small Steps Corrupt', starts heavy as the previous one with the riffs leaning more to the atmospheric side. The track reeks depression! Great work on the leads, creating the proper nightmare aura and an even greater work, vocal-wise. Something that should have been mentioned earlier is that the vocalist has his own way to contribute to this entire vortex Crimson Sunsets create. Follows the lead of the riffs of course but on the same time helps to create a flow on the track. Keeps the death metal element alive while the guitar themes take it to a more depressive route.

All the tracks follow the same protocol, with each one of course having one way or another its own story to tell. Just check out the intro on, 'We Happy Few', for example which builds its tension from mellow-dark chords and clean vocals until it goes smoothly into harsh and heavy doom-death once again or maybe 'Halls Of Extinction', which goes exactly the other way round. Harsh and incredibly heavy on the start and then a big setback in the middle takes you to ambience and then back to being heavy again till the end. Really smooth transitions. Great alternation of emotions and what a great flow overall in the album. The track placement is simply brilliant. Their music is clearly based in emotions so what they’re doing here is putting the listener in a position where they tend to dictate the route of the emotions through the entire listening process.

Of course I can’t tell how much of that was planned and how much just happened to happen but one way or another it ends up being brilliant. Production helps a lot in creating their vision of how they should sound in age 2020. Fat and heavy but on the same time crystal clear. With a mixing process being fair to each instrument and a mastering done in a way where you keep the dirt but also make everything else bright and loud, I could say in the most honest way that you couldn’t have it better!

Crimson Sunsets are back and with this album they are making a statement lads. "Sic Semper Tyrannis" is probably one of 2020’s finest releases. Atmospheric doom-death at its finest and you probably don’t wanna miss that!

5 /5 STARS 

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1. Sic Semper Tyrannis
2. Small Steps Corrupt
3. Vae Victis
4. We Happy Few
5. Ravens
6. Deny The Witch
7. Halls Of Extinction
8. Inglorious Fate


Self released
Reviewer: andychristos
Oct 18, 2020

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