Portland unholy sludge unit VIRAL TYRANT unleash 90s-styled “Blunt Force and Sheer Ignorance” video; new album out July 21st on Ripple Music
Portland, Oregon’s blackened doom and sludge metal purveyors VIRAL TYRANT strike with a rad 90s skater vibe on their new “Blunt Force and Sheer Ignorance” video! This is the second single taken from their debut album “Vultures Like You”, due out July 21st on Ripple Music.
Feel the skate and doom frenzy of “Blunt Force and Sheer Ignorance“!
A new breed of sonic, sludge-laden force from the mixed temperate rainforest and concrete jungle of Portland, Oregon has arrived… With a love for all that is brutal and nerdy from Dungeons & Dragons to cult horror films, extreme metal and video games, and a shared hatred of dehumanization and groupthink. VIRAL TYRANT emerges as a powerful and compelling new voice, full of richness and cohesion, all with a unique sound drawing influences from classic Pacific Northwestern doom, sludge, thrash, black metal and grunge. Their sound encompasses a grounded new movement ofBlackened Hardcore Psychedelic Sludge that isn’t often seen in today’s doom metal scene. Their goal is simple: spread their new strain of metal for all to enjoy.
About the “Blunt Force And Sheer Ignorance” video: “This video is our homage to classic early 90s thrash and skate videos! It was made by a couple dudes coming up in the local Portland skate scene and is a combo of footage from a couple of our recent live performances as well as their recent skate footage! Portland has always had a killer skate culture and a couple of us are skaters from way back (Eric and Mitch specifically). This video is all about featuring some of the local skate scene, and the hijinks and gnarly bails that are always a part of skate culture. Combine that with some more live footage of the Tyrant, and we felt it was an appropriately old-school vibe! This song was once described as “a punk 45 played on 33 speed” and we love and agree with that assessment. The start of this video features a clip of our bass player Casey laying a savage chairshot on local wrester Evin Archanos “The Non Prophet”, taken from a combined heavy metal/pro wrestling show here in Portland called MetalMania.“
“Vultures Like You” was mixed by Rob Wrong (Witch Mountain, The Skull) and mastered by Tad Doyle (TAD). It will be released on various vinyl editions, CD and digital on July 21st, with preorders available now through Ripple Music. Don’t miss their latest video “Vosturan“!
VIRAL TYRANT “Vultures Like You”
Out July 21st on Ripple Music
US preorder – European preorder – Bandcamp
Formed in 2018 by founding members bassist/vocalist Casey Martin and guitarist Dylan Fields, they were soon joined by local veteran of the heavy Portland scene guitarist/vocalist Eric Wallace (formerly of Blark, Facepilot, Rolling Through the Universe), VIRAL TYRANT immediately set out to write 4 songs and recorded at an old farmhouse outside McMinnville, Oregon. The outcome became their first and only self-released demo in 2019. In March of 2020, the band hit their stride and solidified their line-up with the addition of drummer Mitch Meidinger (formerly of Mammoth Salmon and Rolling through the Universe).
With a forced break due to Covid-19, and after only performing a single gig with this powerful Lineup, the band took the time to craft an uncompromising vision of heaviness for their first LP, ‘Vultures Like You’. The band feels that they are now ready to take their place among the elite of heavy music and elevate themselves as a new, diverse and more vicious sound in the crowded landscape of modern Doom. Fast forward to present day 2023, having gone out on a full West Coast tour the previous Summer of 2022 reaching as far south as Oakland, California and as far north as Bellingham, Washington, VIRAL TYRANT is ready to expand beyond borders and share their unholy breed of doom to new horizons.
Inspired by influences from diverse sources, masters of early and contemporary Doom, Black and Thrash Metal, as well as psychedelic and prog rock, the band recorded “Vultures Like You” in the spring of 2021 with doom master Rob Wrong at his Wrong Way Recording studio and was mastered by Northwest grunge legend Tad Doyle at his Witchape Studio in Seattle. ‘Vultures Like You’ is an album that will supersede anyone’s expectations for a debut full-length record, and also features original artwork from songwriter/guitarist/vocalist Eric Wallace.
VIRAL TYRANT is
Dylan Fields – Guitar
Eric Wallace – Guitar/Vocals
Casey Martin – Bass/Vocals
Mitch Meidinger – Drums
