Unhealed

Here comes another very interesting release by one of Austrian‘s leading metal labels Talheim Records. This time we got Italian band Tulpa with their full length debut “Unhealed”. The style is tagged as “blackened crust” and to be totally honest I never came across another release being classified as such. While the sub-genre might be new to me the music itself is not too far off from more familiar territory.

The basis of the music is comprised of crushingly heavy riffing akin to the Swedish doom/death metal classics with a few hints of punkish hardcore vibes thrown into the mix. The main chords are colossal and the buzz-saw tone of the guitar helps to create a filthy and doom-soaked atmosphere. The lead guitar harmonies are cleverly implemented offering hypnotic melodies in an often atonal framework. “Unhealed” is loaded to the brim with that kind of interplays between the crunchy trademark rhythms and the more fragile and often eerie and captivating harmonies.

While I would say that the main ingredients here have been taken from the doom/death metal pool there are obvious black metal influences to be found as well. The crawling bleakness and the haunting harmonies building the backbone to the heavy instrumentation are a very important factor to the overall picture that is painted on this record. While the tempo is kept in mid-tempo most of the time there are some very slow and intense sections. The songwriting is great with some well-placed tempo changes giving the whole album a great flow. While there are some impressive solo pieces the song structures are never too complicated making this album quite easy to enjoy from the first moment on. The lead guitars are mainly used to create melancholic soundscapes and not for some technical wankery.

Beside the spectacular guitar work also the rhythm section has to be mentioned. The drumming is precise following the main patterns of each song and highlighting several sections where an extra portion of intensity is needed. Most of the time it is kept pretty laid-back underlining the stoic and doomy nature of the music. A gloomy atmosphere is something that is very important for this record.

The production is nearly flawless. The guitars are crunchy and have enough filthiness to satisfy each fan of old-school metal music. The drums are punchy without sounding too sterile and the overall mix is very transparent. The vocals are also on point reminding a bit of Greg Mackintosh and his work on the Vallenfyre albums. “Unhealed” for sure is an album that should be a great find for each fan of crusty old-school metal done the Scandinavian way with a good portion of doom and black implemented as well.