Tomb Mold : "the Enduring Spirit"

 

This band's 2019 album failed to impress. I gave it a 6, so chances are it focused on the math of riffs and not enough song writing. This time around they are putting more effort into the songwriting. They still throw a great deal at you , with the technical flair that might impress some. The key for me not matter how heavy you are or what style of music you play is if you are writing song I want to listen to again . The opening track, worked pretty well on the second listen, so that is an improvement. 'Angelic Fabrications" seems to work off more the standard death metal tropes, so not as much replay value.

The jazzy clean tones help set "Will of Whispers" apart from the other songs thus far. It injects the needed shift in a more melodic direction. Then they begin to break out the calculators in order to come up with the riffs to "Fates' Tangled Thread". The more deliberate riffs that should be hooky, fall flat in that department, and the guttural grunting seems to not have a real purpose to add to the song. There is a great deal of death metal where this is the case so it is not just a problem area for this band. "Flesh as Armor" places emphasis on the break neck speed they attack the song with . I guess if you are a guitarist who is under 30 years old, you might finds this style of playing interesting. The angular riffs dance around the core of the song, without giving it direction. There are some crunchy parts and the solo section seemed to make the most sense. Some of the guitar solos have a very cosmic feel to the chaos they bring, but I am not sure what it is even worth .

"Servants of Possibility' finds their bag of tricks beginning to wear thin. The riffs are not as catchy and lean more in the direction of the rule we have here that states... cool riffs alone does not a good song make. They close the album with the eleven and a half minute "the Enduring Spirit of Calamity" . Five minutes it winds down into the more jazzy clean tones that added melody earlier in the album,. and serve as a much more impressive display of guitar skills. I will give this one an 8, while it's not close to being a top death metal album of 2023, it's an improvement over the last album I reviewed. Being released on 20 Buck Spin.