The mid 80s in the USA gave birth to a massive flow of Thrash and Speed Metal bands. Moreover, some of the bigger names of that decade still tear apart stages in the present, nonetheless, there are always those smaller acts that were forgotten, lost in the sands of time, with a glimmer of hope that they might come back to haunt. It is positive to say that only a portion out of those bands actually returns to action, and out of the comeback acts, only a few can really retain the impression of the old days. TYRANT'S REIGN joins the vast club of bands that were able to be on the rise only to suffer a bitter fate of managerial issues that led to disbandment. However, 14 years ago the band officially reformed, yet after a decade and a half and still no signal of life with a new release or material. Even so, Dissonance Productions did justice to the old thrashers with the release of "Fragments Of Time", an actual reissue of the band's unreleased, old and live recordings in a single full length, recordings that were bred to life between 1988 to 1989. Time to get just a little bit of recognition for past efforts.

Throughout their revamped recordings, it is noticed that TYRANT'S REIGN went with the flow of the fusion of Speed and Thrash Metal of the US origin. Mainly sharing attributes with titans as METALLICA / METAL CHURCH / FLOTSAM AND JETSAM / ANTHRAX, there is nothing that could distinguish them from other bands of the same period. Nonetheless, the collection of "Fragments Of Time" gave enough basis to comprehend that the then Indiana residents could deliver a punch at will, along with composing Heavy Metal tunes closer to the classics. Rough attitude, turning their gaze to the street life, yet also the pictorial of the occult while slashing with bewildered energies, these guys thrashed around without being merciful on the listener. Their riffs, and even several of the lead guitar on display, were common elements in the period's music, as well as their speedy onslaughts, however, their song structures on most parts are uneven, destroying the Pop patterns without leaving much to expect of what is coming. At least for yours truly, the band's strongest link is its maniacal singer Randy Barron, which is supposedly still its frontman until nowadays. His singing style adhering high pitch scorches and raspy mid tones is a true marker, which other than the band's sense of creating havoc, is another boost of juice.

Crossing through the old tracks, I got electrified by "The Amulet", a thrashed up version of what could have been a KING DIAMOND song, a total melodic Thrash bash of pure speed with an impressive vocal performance that could have been mistaken to be the king.  Following the previous mayhem, comes the galloping cruncher, "Passage To Eternity", punching with amazing soloing and destructive riffery, both could only be bred in the 80s. "Thrashing Metal Maniacs" leaves no room for second guessing, a mosh pit is in order to heed the call for the blood to start flowing on stage. Pure evil surged through the hazes of "Jack The Ripper", a nasty kicker of the straightforward variety, taking it hard to the skull. And like in every album of the genre, there will always be that black sheep, "Forever And A Day" demonstrated the band's notable talent upon writing a mixed balladry, of the Thrash orientation, which means that things will go down and bloody at the end. In this particular case, the toughness raised its head even before that. Without a doubt one of the album's strongest.

There are plenty of signs of attempts to be creative, yet sometimes it turned out to be just a bit too much, which caused some of the songs to appear as if the end will never come. Quite weary I'd say. Nevertheless, TYRANT'S REIGN still had the upper hand in their songwriting and their playing abilities. Other than Dissonance Productions service, I wonder if they will ever release anything new, even a single tune just for a show of force. I guess time will tell.