PYRRHON - An Excellent Servant But A Terrible Master CD Review

ARTIST: Pyrrhon
TITLE: An Excellent Servant But A Terrible Master
YEAR: 2011
LABEL: Selfmadegod Records
REVIEWED BY: Caroline Restiaux

2011 has delivered a shit load of great music to my door step. From time to time it's good to step out of the 'usual' trending sounds in metal and dive in to bands that play music you have to pay attention to in order to fully appreciate it. Pyrrhon's 'An Excellent Servant But A Terrible Master' is down right groovy death metal and an interesting release to say the least.

It starts off with an almost 8 minute song that gets the listener wet with anticipation of what's to come. The bludgeoning, technical death metal riffs and raspy growls are enough to quench any metalheads thirst. On the other hand, for those who don't mind the experimental side of things you can get your tongue moist with the strong jazzy influences that come across in some of the songs. Now that's not all, the cd was mastered by Colin Marston (Gorguts, Dysrhythmia, Krallice) so you can bet your tour shirt collection that you will also find some Gorguts sounding moments in there as well. As much as I liked the cd I found that a couple of the songs just dragged on a bit. My fave song on the release is 'Idiot Circles' because it was the beefiest of them all when it comes to taking charge.

The entire album times in at roughly 46 minutes with 3 of the 8 songs each nearing the 8 minute mark a piece. Is that too long for a song? Some may think so and others look forward to it. I think that when you finish off an album with them it's cool because by then you already have the just of it all. At that time you don't feel so guilty if you zone out or just press stop. I didn't really mind their last two tunes but I do admit that towards the end of 'A Terrible Master' I became a terrible listener and had to turn it off.

Overall, I enjoyed the cd and would follow the band in the future. Hopefully hooking up with the Polish label Selfmadegod Records for the re-release will do them justice and give them the recognition they deserve. It's really not bad for a band that started off from two guys meeting on a subway platform in Manhattan. Be sure to check it out!

TRACKLISTING:

01. New Parasite
02. Glossolalian
03. Idiot Circles
04. Correcting a Mistake
05. Gamma Knife
06. The Architect Confesses (Spittlestrand Hair)
07. Flesh Isolation Chamber
08. A Terrible Master