According to the information that came with the music PHANTOM are a Speed/Thrash Metal band from Guadalajara, Mexico, formed in 2021 as a project just for fun. Since then, they have released a live album (“Devil Metal Live”), a split CD (“Tapes From The Crypt”) and their debut album (“Handed To Execution”), all in the year of 2023. They kept their productivity up in 2024, when they brought us an EP (“Transylvanian Nightmare”) and they even decided to combine their debut album and the EP into one release as well. And now, on 25 April 2025, they are providing us with their sophomore album which they have named “Tyrants Of Wrath”. As you can read these Mexicans have quite the work ethic, and they release material as fast as they can play it.

Musically you have to think of PHANTOM as an amalgamation of MIDNIGHT (the riffing) in combination with early VENOM (the hysterical/manic vocals are a mix of Cronos and Midnight) with pieces of SLAYER or even METALLICA. The latter two are usually to be found in the first couple of seconds of the intros. And I can only say that although it did take me some time (after all, I am creeping towards my retirement age) I got the gist of the music. It smashes through boundaries, has that level of newfound excitement and energy that is reminiscent of the eighties and will take you to places where you find that if you don’t pace yourself, you will hurt in places that you didn’t realise could hurt.

Is it all good then? No, unfortunately not, as there are two songs that just don’t gel with the rest, as far as I’m concerned. I don’t know if PHANTOM did this before, but on “Nimbus” the vocals are in a clean voice. The music is also rather subdued in comparison to the majority of the material on “Tyrants Of Wrath”. I’m sorry, but this just doesn’t work, but I can hack it. What I definitely can’t fathom is “Nocturnal Opus 666”, which is a pure piano piece. It is a fact that I have never been a fan of Classical Music and that I never will be, so this tune just is a massive fly in the ointment for me. I don’t mind a good piece of piano in a song, but that good part is what I am missing here. Thankfully the rest of the album makes up for this complete mishap. PHANTOM has a good thing going, and hopefully they are able to continue the good work, and obliterate the grave mistakes in the future. If they do, there is a lot to enjoy.