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PHANTOM
Tyrants Of Wrath

High Roller (2025)
Rating: 8/10

After a groovy Gothic organ intro, Mexican headbangers Phantom embark on their sophomore full-length outing, Tyrants Of Wrath. There was somewhat of a buzz when the clan released their 2023 debut, Handed To Execution, although last year’s EP, Transylvanian Nightmare, was less impactful. Even so, Phantom – in spite of their generic moniker – remains a band to watch and deliver 48 minutes of quality heavy metal wrapped up in more neat cover artwork.

Phantom continues to worship at the altar of Slayer, Dark Angel etc. and that era of devilish thrash, so don’t expect any major changes within the framework of the 11 songs, but do expect some killer melodies and enough mind-raping thrash to reduce your brain to slop.

The bar is immediately set high as ‘The Tower Of Seth’ emphatically emerges with a scintillating hook and demonic cackle before a razor sharp Exciter-styled riff slices through your face. Frontman J.C. García wails like a rabid banshee before he gnashes and spits rust in total Teutonic mayhem. You won’t hear a better track on the album, but you will get shredded by a batch of other songs which prove that Phantom is one of the best thrash bands out there.

It’s not all just scathing and snapping retaliatory metal, though. Hidden within this raging storm is an oddly engaging number entitled ‘Nimbus’, which sounds more like a mix of Manilla Road and some obscure and crusty New Wave Of British Heavy Metal band. How this will sit with some fans I’m not sure, especially as the vocals are clear bellows better suited to a doom metal album.

Even so, it’s nice to hear Phantom mix it up a bit, and it doesn’t stop there. ‘Nazguhl’ boasts a punky vibe streaked with a kicking off-kilter drum and soaring solo, while ‘Dance Of The Spiders’, after its delicate intro, races into a black metal type of coldness. But if you want to be force fed straight up thrash metal butchery then venture no further than the blistering title cut and the onslaught of ‘Violent Invasion’.

It’s obvious this time round that Phantom have progressed into something more expansive, so for every ripping torrent you’ll also receive something a bit more experimental or melodic, case in point being finale ‘Dark Wings Of Death’ with its varied tempos. In reality, though, this is still the same Phantom spewing out malice vocally and total destruction musically.

Neil Arnold

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