Jono Moulds checks out the Tyrannosaurus Nebulous brand-new single ‘Deal with My Evil’ for The Rock & Roll Circus.
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.
Having enjoyed previous success working with producer Gavin Monaghan (Robert Plant) Tyrannosaurus Nebulous began working on their debut album 'Tyrant Lizard King' in late 2017 at
Magic Garden Studios. The recording mixing and mastering process was completed prior to the first 2020 lockdown in the UK, and since then the album has been on ice waiting for the right moment.
Tyrannosaurus Nebulous debut album 'Tyrant Lizard King' isn't afraid to explore boundaries when approaching legacy classic hard rock. With tinges of metal, thrash, progression, and musical
acrobatics, this is a band that's stretching their legs and meshing passions in glorious technicolour, which is wonderfully illustrated by the album's sci-fi artwork.
REVIEW
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’. His vocal has a smoky tone about it, as it starts off in a low register (first
thoughts are its akin to ‘Darren Wharton’ of ‘Dare/Thin Lizzy’ fame).
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.
When new music comes across my desk, the thing I normally do first is to quickly check out the name of the band (95% of the time, I’ve not heard the bands before) and from this, I will form an initial opinion on how I perceive the band/single /album will sound. So, when I read the name Tyrannosaurus Nebulous, I inadvertently formed a very quick and preconceived idea of how I thought this song would play out (not the best strategy for an objective reviewer). Ultimately, this was pretty stupid of me (My Wife was right all along!!) and will be the last time I’ll use this as a basis to which to start a review – I promise.
Regardless of name, or anything else that might influence your decision, what it boils down to is the song itself and I’m pleased to say that this is a top tune, you’ll be more than pleasantly surprised. Great single.
Review by Jono Moulds
TYRANNOSAURUS NEBULOUS IS:
Matt Darby - Lead vocals, Guitar
Paul Darby - Guitar
Lee Jenkins - Bass guitar
James Miles - Drums, lead & backing vocals
Watch 'Deal With My Evil' (official music video):
Links to Tyrannosaurus Nebulous :
Official Website
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Bandcamp
Ceri Davies
Presenter and Co-Director
