Jonno Moulds checks out the debut album from Tyrannosaurus Nebulous for The Rock & Roll Circus. "Tyrant Lizard King" is due for release on 25th March.
Tyrannosaurus Nebulous are a four-piece hard rock band from Stourbridge in the Black Country. Their sound is crafted around classic 70’s hard rock, with listeners comparing the group to a diverse range of bands like AC\DC, Alice In Chains, Budgie and Thin Lizzy.
And so, onto the opening song of the new album which is ‘Get Some’. This starts off with an unusual and almost ‘out of tune’ guitar riff, which repeats over several bars before there's shift change, where it’s shape takes on a familiar form, classic sounding, but very effective. This is a straight-ahead, no-nonsense rocker, which sits nicely as the opening tune on the album, that being, strong and powerful, making a real statement of intent. You can certainly feel that ‘Lizzy’ influence coming through in patches (Chorus in particular), possibly more in the sound of the guitar/guitars, which are crisp and in your face. An interesting bridge section (like a military sounding march on the snare) leads into the solo, which sounds great. The track finishes as it started with that strange, out of tune guitar riff. Some start this.
Track two and there is yet more riffage on parade at the opening of ‘Underdog’, where ‘Darby’ carries out some ‘hammer-on’ gymnastics. As with the opener, the initial riff dissolves, and is relieved by another guitar part that takes us up to the first verse. There are some interesting guitar parts played over the first verse, where the chord structure starts off quite ‘choppy’, but quickly changes, as those same chords are ‘chugged’ out, in preference to the former. The pre-chorus (that may well be the chorus, not sure) catches me out, as the general rule of thumb is that a song would normally start to build at this point, but this seems to do the opposite, as this section seems to drop in its intensity. It’s still very effective though. There is a further riff added at the bridge stage, that signals the songs guitar piece, before there are a couple more rounds of the chorus to complete the tune. Lovely stuff.
‘Lead Foot’ begins with, well yeah, you’ve guessed it, another ‘riffmungus’ entrance. This has some serious drive and pace to it from the get-go. Then wow!!!, ‘Darby’ comes in with some high-octane vocal prowess, that I was not expecting, but sounds great. There is nothing ‘fancy’ happening in the verse, as the band keep the momentum going with some solid playing, which allows the focus and attention to rest firmly on the shoulders of the vocal. There is a similar structure on this tune as the last, well, in terms in the way the chorus is set-up, as the strength appears to dissipate (albeit the power remains), but it still has a ferocity that you can’t escape. The drive comes flooding back straight after though as we have verse, solo and chorus, which fly by in a blink of an eye. Strong in every conceivable way. Love this tune.
A kind of ‘Page’ like quality to the guitar hook brings us the opening to ‘Hate You’. This starts off a lot slower, with a bluesy slant than what has come before, where the tempo has a brooding ‘rumble’ to it. There is space enough though for the opening, where ‘Darby’s’ vocals shine through, and such is his style, that it feels like a perfect fit for this ‘bluesy’ vibe. The odd guitar fills in-between these spaces certainly add to the overall vibe – tremendous. But hang on, things take a bit of twist at around two minutes in as ‘Darby’ announces that ‘I don’t want to hate you – but I do’. This indicates an immediate change in proceedings, as the speed picks up and the opening feel is left far behind. There is, however, a sort of return to form, as the song comes to its climax, but this isn’t as ‘sparse’ sounding as it was at the songs beginning, as guitars are thrown into the mix.
A sequence of choral guitar chimes welcomes us all to the beginning of ‘Tyrannosaurus Nebulous’ brand-new single ‘Deal with My Evil’, which at the outset, paints a slightly different picture to what the title of the song alludes to and, to what I was expecting. Soon after, bass and drums effortlessly arrive, adding the odd note and/or gentle brushing of the cymbals to add even more atmosphere to this opening. On top of this, an acoustic guitar run is played over the intro, which already has me surprised and intrigued. This choral, almost pastoral start is soon dismissed though, as the drums begin to build, with the snare drum being put through its paces by ‘Miles’ and acoustic guitars replaced by some full-on distorted menace, as the sound and the title start to align themselves with one another.
There is certainly a ‘Maiden/Celtic’ feel to the opening riff as it leads from its basic origins, but is soon joined by another guitar, harmonising sweetly as we make our merry way through. As we move into the first verse, the riff is put to one side and a basic chord structure is played underneath it all as ‘Darby’ sings ‘Through the night in my dreams and my nightmares - Blood, sweat and tears, and a fear that I can't share’.
The verse interchanges into the chorus with ease, as the pace/beat remain constant, but there is enough subtlety of change to the chord progression that you can differentiate between both. It certainly retains the same vibe as the verse. The chorus is extremely infectious, helped in no small measure to the guitar riff that you meet at its end, which adds to the likeability of it all.
Straight after this, there is an unexpected change of key, as the guitar solo starts, but it smartly keeps to the same rhythmic pattern as before – Like it, great touch that. The solo has a classic structure to it, which isn’t all ‘flash and balls’, but has been well constructed and is superbly delivered by ‘Darby’.
After this we have another round of the chorus, which I don’t mind at all, as by now, it’s already taken effect and has grown on me at some pace.
We end as we started, with more flourishes of that choral guitar, that leads us out of the tune.
Deep, heavy, and resonant is the best way to describe the start of ‘Raw Deal’ as this menacing guitar-based introduction is further embellished with the rooted rhythm of ‘Miles’ keeping some form of jungle beat with a variety ‘slackened off’ toms. The song has ‘dark’ and ‘grimy’ feel about it, which is further enhanced by the opening lyrics ‘Made a deal with devil son – might be in trouble with the holy one’. Born out of this ‘ominous’ feel to the start, the pre-chorus leading to the chorus seems to lift a little, as it sounds less ‘foreboding’. The songs pattern remains the same up until we pass the halfway mark, where at this stage, there is some ‘malevolent’ effect added onto ‘Darby’s’ vocal as he speaks his way through the next stage of the tune, with more bottomless and threatening riffs ‘nipping’ in behind this. A Wah soaked guitar solo just adds to the overall feel of this tune, which has shown another side to the what the band can produce. Very interesting and diverse.
A very ‘Budgie’ sounding opening riff leads the way into ‘Auto Pilot’, which, to me, is quite reminiscent of the superb ‘BREADFAN’, especially when ‘Jenkins’ bass run slips into gear, triggering the initial onslaught. The opening lines of the song set the precedence of where this is story is heading - ‘There’s nothing left for me here, only memories and stale beer’, this has a real out and out classic rock sounding start, as guitars intersperse through the opening verse, where we are left with just ‘Darby’ and ‘Miles’ leading the way. The pre-chorus is made up with a series of simplistic chords and heavy sounding bass, that may come across as a bit too easy, but is very, very effective. The chorus itself carries further weight as to the meaning behind the tune, love lost, turns to drink, just to hide away from the stark realities (as I ‘ve said before, we’ve all been here!!). Before I go on, I love the sound of the bass on this track – great tone. From the guitar driven bridge, the solo appears. This then fades away via a chorus effect guitar piece before the chorus itself, is played out to finish things off. Classic rock – Simple and most certainly in your face!!!
‘Magnetar’ is up next, and another ‘tour de force’ high gain, picked guitar riff immediately opens the song, which is closely followed by an alternative riff, that is basically a ‘variation on the same theme’, but this time, the two guitars go back to basics in terms of the riff/hook. Verse, one arrives and once again ‘Darby’ displays some top-drawer, high range vocal dexterity, which exudes power and ferocity that he has in his voice. Once again, this is non-nonsense stuff. Proper Classic Rock fare – Oh Yeah!!!. The song whizzes past, that is until there’s a ‘left field’ shock in store as the last minute is basically made up of a ’faux’ news announcement, akin to an alien sounding message speaking of some cataclysmic event that is to impact Earth. I’m sure all will be revealed as to why this section has been added, but for now, I’m at a loss. I guess, we just wait and see.
Right then, tracks 9 through to 11 are titled ‘TLK1, TLK2 & TLK3’ respectively, so my interest is already ‘piqued’ by what’s to come. I’ll also preface the review by saying that the three songs run in around 18 minutes in total, so this could be quite some ride.
‘TLK1’ is born out of clean, crisp guitar with a layer of synth for support. First impressions are that the sound and structure is quite a bit removed from what’s preceded it, as we start off quite ‘proggy’ sounding. Vocally, we hear ‘Darby’ align his voice to the mood and vibe of the song, that being, its pitched at a low register, as he almost ‘grumbles’ his way through the opening verses. There is a distinct ‘lift’ as the drums kick in, as we hear the first ‘movement’ of a shift change on vocal, as the tempo of the song is unveiled. Just over a minute in, and the initial subtlety is left in the distance, with the heavy strike of a crisp power chord. The speed remains the same, but the music that hangs onto this section has most definitely ramped up. More changes are afoot though, as a new, speedier riff is brought forth, which gives the green light to a faster and far more progressive section, full of raw and emotive vocal. Here we go. There is plenty going on already as we move quickly from riff to solo and back into verse again. Surely, there’ll be a respite, and indeed this is just around the corner, as we are reintroduced to another section of clean and acoustic guitar, and then……………..wait……….. We have more intriguing radio messages/announcements (as per the last track – Thought it might resurface at some stage). The final minute or so is made up of synth, sound effects and finally, ‘morse code’, that leads us into TLK2.
And so, onto ‘TLK2’; and having been surprised just how ‘TLK1’ transpired, my mind is now wide open for next instalment. However, this is back to basics, as the drums are the ‘trigger’ to the “Maiden’ inspired opening riff. This is a ‘balls out’ rocker and then some, no sign of the finery we heard at the start of the last track – this track isn’t messing about. Picking out the opening lines to the song, the story starts to unfold about a time-travelling dinosaur (well, it goes without saying really) who sounds like it’s on an intergalactic mission to save the world from the mundane music that we have all been subjected too (some story line this – I should have guessed from the cover art really – However, I’m not the brightest button on the shirt!!). Regardless of whether you buy into the concept, there’s no denying the imagination and the angle of attack the band have conjured up, along with the undeniable fact that this song is superb, a classic rock beauty. There is yet more ‘radio news’ story line updates during the last minute of the tune, which yet again, leads us nicely into TLK3.
‘TLK3’ hits in hard, with the initial sound of sirens ringing and some characteristic sounding riffs keeping it company. These opening riffs make their leave, as we are then left with more interposed guitar, leaving room and space for those imposing sounding drums. The series of opening riffs are further enhanced by yet another burst, which just adds to the fine selection. This precedes the opening verse, which continues with the tale we’ve been winding through over the past three song ‘question answered from the deep black sky – do they come in peace or are we gonna die’. The verses are reserved, in terms of the vocal, at least, but the tune keeps rocking through with determination and focus and beyond onto the next section (is it a bridge/chorus??, not sure, but sounds great). We settle down considerably at the halfway mark, as guitars revert to a clean/chorus mood as ‘Miles’ makes full use of his ride cymbal to align with this more relaxed and laid-back section. Yet another change of chord riffage is the main indicator for a switch, which is used as the starting gun for the song’s solos, that are played over two distinct sections, i.e., firstly, a wah guitar solo is added over that slow, burning, and punctuated hook that we heard earlier on, and the second is far more frenetic as the pace and riffs build. The song plays out by slowly grinding its way to a final halt, and the three-song suite has come to its end. Thumbs Up!!!
Bonus track time, which arrives in the form of ‘Never gonna be’. A little bit of a surprise at the birth of this song, where clean guitar, ‘soothing’ keyboard, bass, and strings are the main collaborators, which is quite a bit removed from what’s come before. However, as the drums arrive on the scene, there is a beautifully crafted, bridge sounding (tone dialled back a touch) guitar line that connects this softer approach to the hard-edged tuneage that preceded it. Is the angle of attack about to change?? Let’s see. As verse one unfolds, this doesn’t appear to be the case, as ‘Darby’ swoons over the top of the opening to the track. But wait, no sooner are we at the edge of the opening verse, than there is indeed a slight change, where the guitars add an edge, albeit a very subtle edge. But this does indeed indicate a distinct shift in pace, which is in part ‘forced’ through by ‘Miles’ increasing the rhythm pattern on the drums, making the track really drive. From here on in, we are met with ‘peaks and troughs’ where softer sections intertwine with harder/faster segments that give way to a pristine guitar solo being added, for a short-lived moment at least. A somewhat unlikely way to end the album, but a top track no doubt.
As debut albums go, the songs assembled on here are strong, with a great production to boot. The band prove themselves as intelligent songwriters, not only in the way they have ‘grasped the nettle’ and been brave enough to place a ‘three song-suite’ at the end of the album I love the way they have demonstrated a flexibility and imagination that not a lot of debut albums can demonstrate.
On top of this, they are diverse in the art of song writing, in the sense that, there are ‘riffs’ galore in every corner of every song, but they can bring in other ingredients into the mix, based on the thematic nature that each tune holds. Couple all this with a singer with a gifted vocal and a band that are technically adept at each instrument and we have the makings of a top-level album. Boom!!!
Review by Jono Moulds
Watch 'Deal With My Evil' (official music video):
TYRANNOSAURUS NEBULOUS IS:
Matt Darby - Lead vocals, Guitar
Paul Darby - Guitar
Lee Jenkins - Bass guitar
James Miles - Drums, lead & backing vocals
ALBUM CREDITS:
All songs written by Tyrannosaurus Nebulous
Artwork by Bill Hauser
Recorded at Magic Garden Studios UK
Produced by Gavin Monaghan
Engineered by Joseph Murray and Liam Radburn
Mixed by Joseph Murray
Programming and keyboards by Gavin Monaghan
Spoken word by Stefan Guttel and Foxglove
CONNECT WITH TYRANNOSAURUS NEBULOUS:
Official Website
LinkTree
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Bandcamp
Soundcloud
Youtube
Ceri Davies
Presenter and Co-Director
