TOMB MOLD
TOMB MOLD "The Enduring Spirit"
By Dr. Abner Mality
TOMB MOLD, one of the ickiest and sickest of recent death metal bands, take something of a left turn on "The Enduring Spirit". Formerly content to spew slimy riffs and primitive doom, the band has now embraced their inner jazz-bo and become rather CYNIC-al, if you catch my drift.
Does it work for them? I'd say so, and "The Enduring Spirit" is a generally worthy album, but I would be lying if I didn't admit I liked their old material better.. It was cheerfully gross and stuck in your head more. Make no mistake, they retain a lot of brutality here, but never did I think I would hear TOMB MOLD taking the extended jazzy interludes they do on "Will of Whispers" and the 11 minute plus behemoth "The Enduring Spirit of Calamity". Indeed, much of this latter track is complete CYNIC worship and it ends on that note instead of the crushing cacophony you'd expect. Honesty compels me to say I was rather bored by this last track.
In contrast, we still get pulverizing bruisers like "Flesh As Armor" and "Servants Of Possibility".They keep the speed and brutality, but even here, the riffing is more angular and the time changes more acute than past material. Some tracks like "The Perfect Memory" are a combination of both styles. It must be said the vocals are total guttural roars throughout. Thank Goodness, because clean vocals would have pushed me over the edge on a TOMB MOLD record.
A bold new step for the Canadians. Will it last? Time will tell.