After kicking you in the face with 'The Red And The Black', the band decides to let up on the listener with 'O'Ded On Life Itself', a song much more reminiscent of the style on their debut. The song is slow and bluesy, but as the Cult are wont to do, they make it so catchy (and mysterious) that you can't help but enjoy it. 'Hot Rails To Hell' throws you back into the fray: 'speeding along like dynamite' and bringing back the biker-metal. Melodic flourishes are melded with the heaviness and speed, creating a real signature BOC song.

Now, '7 Screaming Diz-Busters'...this song is nuts. Starting with a jagged but refrained riff, it moves into the verse...calm and melodic...before locking into a hypnotic, speeding groove, with Buck Dharma's fingers flying up and down the frets like mad. The song continues owning until near the end, at which point it owns even more.

'Baby Ice Dog' is the low-point, after those incredible first four songs. The melodies are just too, well, wussy...the vocals sound like they aren't quite sure where to go, and the lyrics 'I had this bitch you see, she made lies to me'...aren't quite the best the Cult have done. Still, not a bad song, just not that good. The potential is there, it just doesn't fully reveal itself.

'Wings Wetted Down' on the other hand is incredible. Slow and plodding and similar to 'Then Came The Last Days Of May' or 'She's As Beautiful As A Foot' from the last album, it manages to be as good or better than either of those classics, through sheer quality of melody and riffs. The mysticism of the song is consuming, confusing, and yet fascinating...'Lights of black horsemen, soar over churches, pursued by an army of birds - in the rain!'

'Teen Archer' is just as good, the slow Sabbath-like start gives way to a call and response guitar riff that is perfectly complemented by the vocals. The song possesses that shaky, nervous energy that makes BOC such an interesting band. Even when they are sounding upbeat and poppy (and this isn't the album for that aspect of the band) they always manage to include a menacing undercurrent, the allure that something more sinister is lurking just below the surface. Anwyays, the solos in this song are really outstanding, Buck Dharma is a real master at his instrument. 'Teen Archer' has a long extended jam section that showcases his mastery, and some great keyboard work to boot.

'Mistress Of The Salmon Salt', as the name implies, is thematically the most mysterious and 'cultish' song on the album, revelling in the obscurity of it's meaning. The song itself is a good one, if slightly non-descript...choosing to plod along for it's duration in a way that makes it seem like standard BOC, not outstanding BOC. Still a solid finisher to a really damn amazing album.

As you may have picked up, I think this album is just grand. This is where BOC REALLY pulled it all together, firing on all cylinders in the musical, lyrical and mystical departments. The result is this dark beast of bluesy rock and heavy metal...Tyranny And Mutation, an album which I whole-heartedly recommend to fans of music, BOC new-comers, and generally anyone else! Dark, mysterious, and musically engaging...Tyranny And Mutation is where it's at.

written by Tim Blake

Playing time: 37.57