TYRANNY AND MUTATION

Harsh and aggressive where its predecessor was moody and mysterious, Tyranny and Mutation shows Blue Oyster Cult taking their positions as the American answer to Black Sabbath nicely - though they're faster paced than their British cousins and are more reminiscent of speed metal than doom metal on here. Opening track The Red and the Black sums up the difference from the previous album - a remake of I'm On the Lamb But I Ain't No Sheep, with the speed accelerated to an insane pace and the guitars turned up to 11, it sets a mean and irresistible precedent for the tidal wave of occult metal to follow. Although the album stumbles a little on Wings Wetted Down, which robs it of a lot of its momentum, this is otherwise an excellent sophomore effort which builds on the promise of the debut.