Brisbane is not the first place you think of for filthy gnarly, sludgy Death Metal. I was there in the mid 90’s and I just remember the fake beach on Australia day, extreme humidity and a lot of Hahn Ice being poured down my throat. OK it wasn’t all sunshine and lollipops, but it was pretty much the OZ I had been sold by the soaps – despite sleeping in basements and people’s floors.
How naive I was. A quarter of a century later (fuck I’m old) along come Resin Tomb to clear out the ear wax of any unsuspecting Prisoner of Mother England.
In existence for 4 years this is the quintets first full length release, following on from E.P’s in the plague year and 2022.
The eight tracks here mix bludgeoning filthy death metal with elements of sludge and the kind of Godflesh nods that Chat Pile have been assaulting us with recently.
No fucking around from the get go – Dysphoria erupts with a rasped scream and then a blast that plunged me into discordant madness followed by jerky sledgehammer blows. “Flesh Brick” – what a great title for a song. Is it used to build a house or to throw at a copper? Who knows? The track however, mixes madness and melody with some mighty stomping riffs. Matthew Budge’s larynx constricts to a tight rasp and then opens up like a fucking megalodon swallowing Stath to spew forth deep and dark bellows.
Guitarists Matt Gordon and Brendan Auld are not afraid to chug when it is needed and there are certainly some great knuckle dragging moments but they also fire off lil arpeggios from the hip and some very mathy intricate stringed equations too. There are even a few Black Metal atmospherics lurking politely in the back ground like patient pandas at an orgy on Noah’s Ark. The blood crazed predators get the first dibs though and Mitch Long on bass and pummeller Perry Vedelago make sure that some semblance of order is kept to the feeding frenzy.
The title track is hypnotic in a brutal sludgy way – it lured me into a bit of a trance before exploding into chaos. Part of me was disappointed to be roused from my lead footed stupor but the maelstrom hit me like a bucked of liquid nitrogen to the face. Refreshing!
Human Confetti (another great title) gives off big Killing Joke vibes from the opening chords. There is a palpable urban darkness about this track that is hinted at elsewhere but gets pushed front and centre here. Adding in some blasts and black metal razor riffs and this is a right slab of midnight decay.
I am still plunged in darkness covered in grease and engine oil as Purge Fluid launches out of my speakers. Ugh surely there is a cream for that. Concrete Crypt opens with dissonant industrial tones before picking up the pace and blasting off.
By the time Putrescence has rung out I am left with in a quandary. Wrung out by the cacophony, bereft of hope by the bleakness but energised by the power of Resin Tomb.
Can you ask much more?
Strewth !
(8/10 Matt Mason)
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