Manifest Tyranny is the seventh studio album from Sweden’s Andromeda, and first for new label Inner Wound Recordings.

      Listening to the ten tracks on the album and from the lyrics and song titles, it is clear that Manifest Tyranny is Andromeda’s statement on the globe’s economy, distrust in government, wars, religions and the general chaos of the world we are living in. It’s not so much a concept album, but there is a common thread in the ten songs presented.

      The production is top notch as is the musicianship. The album starts off with the heavy thrash of ‘Preemptive Strike’. Next up is the ultra melodic “Lies r Us’, which features a catchy chorus and the spectacular vocals of lead vocalist David Fremberg. “Stay Away” is a progressive and a showcase for keyboardist Martin Hedin’s considerable chops! “Survival of the Richest’ slows things down momentarily until the middle of the song when it kicks into prog mode once more. This is one of my favorite cuts on the album. It really shows off the diversity of the band’s songwriting. Since I don’t have a copy of the lyric sheet, I can only guess that the epic (I hesitate to call it a ballad)“Chosen by God” deals with faith and religion in a questioning manner. I would be curious to know the meaning behind the lyrics.

    Back to the metal, “Asylum’ features a heavy almost industrial edge to it mixed with progressive instrumentation and melodic vocal elements.

    The albums final cut ‘Antidote’ ends things on a positive note featuring some great guitar work from Johan Reinholdz and progressive rhythm section of Linus Abrahamson on bass and Thomas Lejon on drums and a beautiful piano interlude by Hedin. This is an excellent effort by Andromeda. If progressive metal is your cup of tea, or if you’re already a fan of Andromeda, I highly recommend “Manifest Tyranny’. Another winner for Inner Wound Recordings!

 Rating:  8.0