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I've mentioned before that, save for the odd album here and there, Melodic Death Metal has outstayed its welcome. Thousand Year War don't bring anything to the table to make me change my mind on the subject, but at least the album, if mostly uneventful, is listenable.

This has what you expect from Gothenburg-style Melodic Death Metal – watered-down Death growls and music that sounds a bit like Power Metal-ish low-end Death Metal, with tidbits of later Immortal and the similarly-sounding I thrown into a couple of songs other than the cover. Tyrants and Men is not particularly catchy (something that does make a few melodeath albums stand out) and feels a bit repetitive. Still it does have the occasional good riff that makes you think "why couldn't they keep up like this for most of the album?" Vocally this is very, very standard (and kind of monotonous). The fact that the song I like the most – and the only one that sticks after a few listens – is a cover of I's "Storm I Ride" should tell you something... You can do much worse than Tyrants and Men in this genre – just don't expect too much as this is really pretty standard stuff, done relatively well.