Tomb Slab - Tomb Slab

-

Tomb Slab is a doom/sludge band from Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England that formed in 2013; their self-titled album is their debut full-length.  And what a debut it is!  This is caustic, extreme doom/sludge that is easily one of the heaviest, most uncompromising albums I’ve heard in July.  Just think about a brutal band you like and then multiply it by 10.  That’s the world where Tomb Slab not only lives but thrives. 

The vocals are devastating, a sort of death/blackened scream that rattles the bones.  The music is equally as filthy—gargantuan riffs that have the atmosphere of doom but the tone of hell itself, a sludge performance dredged up from one of its circles.  No question: if you like riffs, then this album is your god. The band’s name is perfect because each song is like a slab of death that batters and breaks the senses.

The album consists of six songs and a very tight runtime of just under 31 minutes.  The band wastes no time with their brand of doom/sludge; they use it to deliver a battering ram of music and then it's done, leaving behind bodies in their wake. 

The first song, “Kingdom of Tyrants,” grabbed me from the first moment.  That main riff just slithers through like a giant serpent on the hunt.  When the full band comes in, the song grows into a towering wall of sound. At the 3:22 mark, the drums kick up the tempo slightly and the song turns surprisingly catchy for the style.  The bass is IMMENSE at this part and pushes the groove from the ground up.

This album can get quite violent, too.  “Rawhead,” is a vicious song with guitars/bass that just won’t quit; this song is unstoppable and the music becomes brutally hypnotic.   The mid-passage throws in a hardcore session that is pure, unbridled fury. Everything smoothly transitions back into low, slow doom and, once again, the bass bolsters everything up. The ending solo is a nice surprise–kind of stoner-ish and a little psychedelic. 

The final song, “Toils of the Unclean Spirit,” is my favorite song on the album.  The drum and bass intro are goddamn fantastic.  It has a little bit of a rock and roll feel and that groove is filthy bliss.  The riffs throw down hardcore and get even more intense in the passages where the tempo is pulled back.   Around the 4 minutes mark, some of the best riffs on the album push their way through this storm and optimal headbanging is guaranteed.  If this song doesn’t get you moving, you might just be on a…wait for it…tomb slab

All in all, Tomb Slab’s full-length debut is an early surprise as we find ourselves in the second half of the year.  I hope this band sticks around, if they are this good now, imagine how their next release will sound?   

Rating:  Great













Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hexecutioner - Tornit

-
Image
Hexecutioner is a doom/stoner/sludge metal band from Seattle that formed in 2020. Their latest release, “ Tornit ,” is their second full-length album; they have also released a demo. The band’s style is Doom with a capital DOOM. It embraces the elements of the genre without shame—and bludgeons my ear drums with them. The songs are mid-paced and built upon RIFFS, RIFFS, RIFFS, and more RIFFS. Oh and some RIFFS too.   The band’s approach is both classic and hypnotic—they take one riff, run with it, and hammer it over and over until I realized I had head banged so much I turned into a worm. But that’s just fine with me, because the next riff arrived and pulled me back together—and the process repeats. I don’t get high but if I did, I could see myself listening to this and then waking up three days later naked in the woods.   The tone and fuzz of these masterful notes, the bass included, laces their brand of doom with a filthy layer of sludge. It’s heavy as a real...
Read review

Devil Moon Risen - Fissure of Men

-
Devil Moon Risen is an Arizona based band with a very unique sound.  They formed in 2020, in the middle of the pandemic and dropped an EP.   Their brand of high energy and catchy music combines punk, desert rock, and stoner doom into a truly dynamic sound that blazes from start to finish!  Oh and they also include sludge and old school heavy metal into the mix!   “ Fissure of Men ,” is their debut full-length album…and it is a massive achievement! The band is a three piece but they sound even bigger. Chihuahua Chad (I hope that is his real name) plays bass guitar, upright bass, and vocals.  His bass is a huge component to the album, if not the main one.  He is absolutely pulsating, steering the direction of the band even while he compliments the other two member’s own styles.  His vocals are extremely varied, everything from cleans and screams.   Guitarist Rocky Destructo (awesome) has just a big of a job though as the album’s onl...
Read review

November Fire - Through A Mournful Song

-
November Fire is a doom/stoner metal band from New England that formed in 1991.  Over the years members would come and go as the band recorded demos and played gigs throughout the Boston area; the band stayed active until 2004 and, after some sporadic reunions, returned to the scene in 2022.   Flash forward to 2024 and the band drops their full-length debut “ Through A Mournful Song .” My time with this album was well spent.  I’ve no doubt this is one of the more unique metal albums I’ve heard this year.  I would say doom is their foundation but they are hard to categorize.  A lot is going on in these songs and across its forty-minute runtime, the band doesn’t shy away from exploring variety within its dynamics.    There are a lot of psychedelic tendencies across its breadth and it often times has an unhinged quality, almost supernatural in a way.  The vocals from bassist Terry go a long way adding to the band’s special atmosphere.  His...
Read review