Jordanian cousins Zaher Siryani and Muhannad Bursheh (better known to his country’s scene as Phexataan), formed Tyrant Throne in 2004 to make “bone-crushing brutal death metal music”, and debut EP “Abominations” certainly sees the band walking it like they talk it. Tyrant Throne may be fairly new, but Phexataan brings valuable savvy from his other projects Phex and Augury, and “Abominations” is a competent effort, witnessing the band taking their first important steps towards shaping a death metal assault stamped with their own personality.

The star attraction of “Abominations” is Zaher’s taut, energetic fretwork. Tracks such as “The Chaos Beast” and “Excavation to our Rotten Ancestors” have ferocious guitar dynamics, switching between razor lead-work and crushing, heavy riffs. Classic ascending and descending chords, building up then slithering down with demonic cunning, are given fresh life by an almost thrashy fretboard agility and devastating sense of pace. Under all this, Phexataan's bass grumbles away with sinister menace, and the sound as a whole is very conducive to conveying the “spiritual anger” the band harbour. Due to a paucity of death metal drummers in Amman, the beats on this EP are programmed, but the loops, especially on the first few songs, are inventive and fitting; they have been created with real understanding and skill. Obviously the sound would have been all the sweeter with a living, breathing, swearing, drinking, groupie-bothering drummer, but Tyrant Throne work well with what they have, accomplishing an impressively organic-sounding interaction between the ‘real’ and programmed elements, especially on “Slaughter for Salvation”, which is a stand-out track.

Tyrant Throne’s lofty technical ambitions are clear in the riffage, but are difficult to realise fully given their current limitations. Zaher gives the Azagthothian solos his heart and soul, but lacking the technical background of a full band they can fall a bit short. The songs on this EP have a tendency to end in a rather limping fade-out, due to the difficulty of creating a convincing crashing, triumphant finish with a drum machine. Phexataan's decidedly ‘old-school’ death metal grunts are no doubt accomplished, but it would be good to see them developing some more character in the future. Erik amply proved on Vomitory’s latest release that vocals don’t have to be unintelligible to be shatteringly, mind-goringly brutal, and a little bit more range would add a great deal to Tyrant Throne’s sound.

Still, “Abominations” is a fine statement to be making as a debut- aggressive, tight and brimming with potential. It ends with a cover of Cannibal Corpse’s “Staring Through the Eyes of the Dead”, which is played pretty straight but with notable energy and enthusiasm, and a real sense of enjoyment on every crunch and flourish. It sums up what the band are about at this stage; still noticeably building on the groundwork of their influences, but hungry to grow, and determined to have fun whilst doing it. Someone give them a real drummer, and Tyrant Throne will suddenly ascend from scene-leaders in Jordan to a real international proposition. Don't take you eyes off them.

- Check out Abomination's Info on Vomitory Page