We sat down with Nahka-Sami, vocalist and bassist of Tyrantti at a nice craftbeer and wine bar in Helsinki and found a somewhat tired man in front of us. Since they were about to release the new album ‘Ihmispyramidi‘ they were doing a bunch of promo still this week, and by releasing the album on their own label, they now realized all the effort that went into mailing CDs, getting their work to record stores and all that stuff, somewhat missing a label taking care of that.

It’s actually been an excellent year for Tyrantti. Not only does 2024 mark the release of their third full-length, they had a show this past summer that was one for the books. At Hellsinki Metal Festival, they made a real spectacle of their performance there by putting on corpsepaint and bring wrestlers on stage to fight while they were playing their songs. For the guys of Tyrantti it was really quite the adventure, and Sami will forever remember how scared he was possibly getting hit by one of the wrestlers while he was playing his bass and singing. And the corpsepaint was kind of ridiculing the promoter a bit for putting Tyrantti on a stage where on that day only black metal bands were playing. All in all, it was a truly memorable show for the band, the fans and everyone involved. And it’s good to know that it might not be the last time they pull a stunt like that. But if they do something special again, it will have to be something even bigger, so it stands out again.

On the matter of their new album ‘Ihmispyramidi‘, it took some time since the former album to get this one together. Not because it was hard to write, more because it was hard to find the time to get together with each band member having other things going on. But once they did get together, it all came together quite fast, even though the direction wasn’t all that obvious in the beginning. Initially, they felt like they could explore AOR and progressive rock a bit more, music that all 3 of the guys love. But with everything going on in the world, they ended up recording the darkest album they’ve ever done. It’s heavier and more straightforward. It’s hard to not let the world going down the toilet affect you, and it ends up leaking into your music. Which influenced the whole album, with maybe the exception of ‘Miestä vahvempaa‘, which is a drinking song (with a twist). And not just thematically it’s an album they’re proud of, musically it’s the strongest of what they’ve done yet. Sami praised the guitar work of Henkka with incredible solos and harmonies, and they have double bass drums for the first time in the band’s history…

They’re planning to play a bunch of shows, more than they’ve ever done before, going to places they haven’t been before and returning to some of their favorite stages, like playing at Tuska again in 2025. When asking Sami about the tracks he’s looking forward to play live of the new album, he told us that the title track is one of those with the meanest riff they ever had, pounding drums and then the falsetto vocals that reach the skies. It’s the kind of high energy heavy metal track that will get any crowd going from the beginning. And the last song, ‘Viimeinen portti‘, is an epic song. Almost six minutes long, and with what Sami feels is the best chorus of the whole album.

A lot to look forward to considering Tyrantti, so go check out their music and if you can, live!

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