Subterranean Forms

Death metal in its current state has a wide variety of styles, motifs, and themes to offer. Old school style death metal revolving around gore/horror, progressive death metal that's commonly found to be more introspective, and melodic death metal detailing death & inner struggles are a few examples. Within the past several years, there has been a rise in a modernized (for lack of a better word) take on death metal that seemingly combines old school death metal with some death/doom metal topped off with themes of space, esotericism, and the supernatural/paranormal to concoct what's been dubbed as "cavernous" or "cosmic" death metal. "Subterranean Forms", the sole release from Colorado death metal band Ring Nebula prior to the name change to Astral Tomb, is a cacophonous wall of sound in the vein of the aforementioned modernized take on death metal that fans of Blood Incantation and Tomb Mold would enjoy.

This demo mainly follows a classic death metal approach with traces of murky death/doom metal sprinkled in. Tremolo picking, tempo changes, dissonance, and blast beat drumming are key features included. The utilized vocal styles are predominantly low death growls teeming with abrasive grit and occasional raspy death screams. The instrumental track "Species Below" shies away from this approach in favor of acoustic guitar work with clean electric guitar thrown in for complementing it with leads. The overall lead guitar work on this demo is adequate, but nothing remarkable. The most notable guitar solo is on "Beneath the Pyramids", and it's mindless shredding with some whammy bar usage here and there.

The production successfully assists in creating a cacophonous atmosphere, and I can only assume that was the band's goal. There is an emphasis on the low end (bass) frequencies and reverb. Reverb and ambience are employed and emulate the echoes of massive cave tunnels, hence the applicable descriptor of "cavernous death metal" to Ring Nebula's music. The bass guitar is audible in the mix and even gets the spotlight on a couple tracks. Without a doubt, that is a necessary component for making the mix sound balanced and whole. The drums and vocals have some decent resonation going on. In my opinion, the guitars are where the reverb really stands out.

Despite its strengths, I did pick up on some issues with the production. The biggest one being clipping. With an attentive ear, audio clipping can be heard in some of the tracks. It is very noticeable on the track "Cavern Spawn" when the guitars enter. The clipping doesn't interfere with the listening experience too much, but it's still something to avoid as much as possible when going to record music. Another issue I noticed is that there are a few instances of the guitar almost getting drowned out. It's apparent the guitar is present, but what's not apparent are the notes the guitar's playing. It's ok if a band wants to aim for murky/muddy production, but the instruments should still have clarity in the mix.

Ring Nebula's 2019 demo, "Subterranean Forms", is surely worth the 26 minutes it takes to completely listen to. The music on it showcases a new wave of death metal that seeks to pay homage to the genre's most legendary acts, specifically the ones that gained prominence throughout the 1990s, while still remaining innovative and state-of-the-art. Sometimes, the factors in which different styles of music are separated lie within atmosphere, and that's the case for Ring Nebula and everything that has been released under the Astral Tomb moniker so far. Favorite track: Mammoth Realm.