The Bottomless Perdition

Spurning the now trademark racket favoured by some of their more well-known compatriots, Tomb Mold have instead fashioned a homage to classic death souvenirs, with more nods to the vintage Swedish and Finnish sounds than can be counted. While some are holding this undoubtedly very well-produced demo aloft as one of the most interesting offerings from the underground in some time, it is simply a timely slab of momentarily catchy 'retro death', complete with a positively en vogue, ominous, synth intro.

Comprised of members known primarily for experimental noise and crust/punk fare, the duo revel in a tumult of sharpened grooves, stippled with portions of doom, that is thoroughly unashamed of its patent heavy and thrash metal heritage - not necessarily a negative when done with flair. Belched, cavernous vocals echo across Tomb Mold's throwback sounds while moments of proficient staccato blasting break up goings-on that remind of Repugnant, Morpheus Descends and even humorous horror nuts Ghoul ('We Came for the Dead!!!') at points.

What's truly notable here is an excellently honed, abrasive guitar tone that fittingly promotes the demo's more progressive elements and highlights its wailing solos and apt tempo variations, yet despite some plodding doom inserts, 'The Bottomless Perdition' lacks a slick, sludgy, sticky dankness, which was expected (and hoped for) due to its subject matter and aesthetics. As much as fans of this style rarely seek a reinvention of the wheel, the backgrounds of Tomb Mold's members should allow them to lend a little more originality to trying their hand at death metal; there exists the ingredients to create something akin to current Vorum, and to even venture beyond.

However, as mentioned above, the demo has strangely popped for people seemingly jaded with contemporary death metal, especially the 'retro death' trend, but much like the mouthpieces convinced there has been no decent black metal released since Funeral Mist's 'Salvation', they're merely tuned into the wrong bands, or totally disconnected.

Now signed to Blood Harvest Records and marketing an LP for 2017, Tomb Mold are set to be a blip on radars for some time yet, but may appeal more to casual listeners, as opposed to those twiddling their thumbs awaiting new madness from Adversarial.

*Originally published on metalireland.com, 04 September 2016.