Tombs : " All Empires Fall"

What happens on Tombs new album should not come as a surprise considering how they have evolved with each album. The last album might not have been as dark as the previous, but Mike Hill and company continue to evolve. With the inclusion of Fade Kainer into the fold on "All Empires Fall" it made me think the industrial influence that has lurking under the surface would rise like Godzilla. This is not the case. They make it clear the metal isn't going anywhere. They kick the fucking door down with a neck crushing riff on the opening instrumental "the World is Made of Fire". They lash into something closer to straight up black metal for "Obsidian". It's not just full blast ahead. These guys have more tricks up their sleeves. Does Kainer's synths bring another sonic layer? Yes, but it doesn't compromise their sound.

The darkness rolls in on "the Last Day of Sunlight". This finds the band reaching the next level. Hill comes in with a low croon. The music slither around him in an almost exotic death rock fashion. We have heard this side of the band before, here it is just more fully embraced. Tribal drumming lead into the bass driven beginning to "Deceiver". Here the band fuses the two sounds into something dark and heavy with a ton of crunch to it. The verse riff has almost of Motorhead feel before going into the more chugged chorus. I had already heard "V" which finds them blending their dark side perfectly with the more metal muscle of their sound. I didn't even have to keep score on this one it gets a 10, this is what I want out of music. The only thing wrong with this release is the fact it's an EP rather than a full length, because it leaves me still wanting more.



 This album is being released on Relapse Records April 1st.

1349 & Tombs @ the Basement

Here’s my first concert of the year. It came on the day I found out David Bowie died so it served as a catharsis to vent out some of the depression hanging in my chest. Normally I would have had a harder time getting motivated to get out of the house at 9:30 at night but I had been wanting to see both bands for some time. And since my family over at Cvlt Nation was sponsoring the “Chaos Raids” tour, I felt even more obligated to make it out.

My wife had to work late so we got to the Basement right when Tombs was doing their sound check. We missed local openers the Vimur and Full of Hell. The latter I have previously seen with Mutilation Rites. Bassist Ben Brand from Woe was still in the band and had a pretty mean tone. The big surprise in the unexpected line up changes is the addition of Fade Kainer from Batilus/ Statiqbloom he often splits the vocals duties with Hill and has his own personality when it comes to his stage presence which honors the more black metal elements of the band, but also brings forward the more industrial influence that has been simmering under their surface. These cast a larger shadow in the live sound and the more post-punk moments were toned down, obviously touring with a band like 1349 they have had to bring it in the most furious fashion possible. Addition to the band and adds a lot to their sound. His synth work added punch to the low end as he accented certain hits.

First off before we get into their set, which cares what you think of black metal's more theatrical elements, these guys are the real deal and played with dead serious conviction. The stage was set for the ritualistic pageantry of black metal. The drummer first came out in a hoodie and full corpse paint on to adjust his drums before returning to the stage covered in sigils scrawled over his bare torso. Frost was no able to make it over so they employed Jon Rice of Job For A Cowboy, and I can’t imagine Frost being better than this guy who didn’t even break a sweat, but for a little guy hammering everything out with power and machine like precision . Singer Ravn brandished Gwar like gauntlets on his forearms and had a stage presence that was commanding and engaging. The mix shifted and the vocals were much more audible from the house p/a, so the closer you stood to the stage the more his croaks and screams faded behind the buzz saw guitar.

The band’s energy and intensity keep the momentum of their set flying by you no matter if they were playing blast beats or not. They won the Atlanta audience over due to the fact they have a punk rawness to them live. With Archaon handling all the guitar duties by himself, some of the layers that are on the album were given a more stripped down and straightforward treatment. From behind his cowl their bassist kept the rumble going for the occasional run up the neck Archaon took, but these happened so quick the wall of razor sharp sound kept it’s lacerating attack. While the material from “Cauldron of Chaos” dominated the set they came out and for their first three songs crammed “I am Abomination” , “Nathicana” and “Sculptor of flesh” in your face . If you have not caught these guys yet and call yourself a fan of black metal you are doing yourself a disservice. In fact both bands are a must as they approach their respective sounds with all the passion of their black hearts.

Batillus "Concrete Sustain"

This four piece from Mew York features live members of A Storm of Light and Jarboe's band, so that shuuld clue you in on what's to come some experimental industrial strength metal side a side of sludge. While the electronic elements lay beneath the stacatto sludge it has the militant feel of industrial more than the sonics of it. The production contributes to this feel, though there is a lot of space left between instruments which reminded me of Helmet, though they are much darker.

The first track "Concrete" leads of with tight off time drumming and lets the low tuned guitar get poured in for the corners to fuzz out the edges as the barked vocals take up the spaces the center. It manages to feel very organic while clunking a like a cyborg with a tank for legs. The " sustain and dominate" chant reminds me of Author & Punisher. It takes a few listens for this to all fall in place for me mainly the nuances of the production is where the attention to detail was placed, I am immediatly interested in seeing how this plays out live which I'm guessing is heavier.

The bass becomes more present in the second track "Cast". I couldn't hear where it was falling on the first one but it becomes a focal point here. The snare takes on a more metallic clang and the vocals have a more black metal rasp to them, though not far removed from Today is the Day either. One unique thing bout this band is for what they do you would expect the guitar to all the work but it's not the case as it just adds and erosive rust to the edges of the machine, so they found like aunt rather than he came up with these riffs so we are working off that. If you told me the drummer wrote all the songs I wouldn't be surprised.

"Beset" creep to life with a rattle of fuzz. The tempo is more of a doomy lethargy. Where the other songs felt like the were coiled tight this one has a looser feel. the lower growled vocal contributes to the doom comparisons. The glitches of back ground vocals brings the evil in. The vocal production on this is excellent. Around the five minute mark something like a solo rings into the picture, not shredding just a single note thing that's more atmospheric than anything. I know every one wants to throw a blackens label on everything but I don't hear it here except on the vocals at times.

"Mirrors" has some weird electronics fluttering over the slow introductory guitar which goes into a riff more typical for what I would consider "New York metal" but this transitioning into something darker when the bass picks up the slack. Maybe some old Neurosis influence comes into play, but nothing worn to blatantly on their sleeves like say early Isis. One of the more straight forward moments on the album, but highly effective and heavy as an elephant fuck.

On "Rust" the bass gets things going again, the guitar comes in with a cleaner tone and goes into an almost Fugazi like pattern. This alternates with the dark drift where they hang on the chords, then congeal into more of a riff with it, truth be told what they go into is hard to categorize and very original in the execution. The riff in the last two minutes does remind me of Bloodlet, but once again their influences remain obscured .

The closer " Thorns" has clean vocals which are a low Swans like tone doubled with growls, almost like the end of " God of Emptiness" you know the "Bow to me faithfully..." I can see where Neurosis comparisons could crop up here and the vocal does more for me than the surypy guitar parts which don't really congeal. Four and a half minutes of floating out the murk has a stagnant feel. At the five and a half minute mark I hear the first guitar melody that clicks for me. Maybe if I was on drugs the pacing here would work for me, I think any opiate or depressant would work, these guys are not a meth or coke band for sure, so tweakers beware. So aside for lazy paced sludge of this song everything else clicks perfectly into place for me , it fits and odd place on my taste buds similar to the on Tombs used to occupy. With the tempo metal I normally go for the more morose funeral doom, but the electronic under tones and originality should give this solid footing in the ever evolving landscape of my iPod so this gets a 9. So that colors me impressed, not what I thought I was getting into as I expected something more Godflesh, from what I had read of these guys before pressing play. Instead it's much more organic but still has a rustic grime to it.