The next big thing. A phrase that gets bandied about far too much, bringing with it a curse and the inevitable tall poppy syndrome that follows. Since their inception in 2016 and the release of “Primordial Malignity” the following year, Toronto’s Tomb Mold have had the collective Death metal scenes gums flapping.
Proper Death Metal no sub genres. No shame. No gimmicks. Just death fucking metal. “Manor of Infinite Forms” further cemented their place on people’s fetid lips last year and it appears that these boys are musically virile as he we are again with another full length.
“Planetary Clairvoyance” is big sounding. Headphone or speaker rattling in its bombast. Opener “Beg for Life “ ( I first read it as Bag for Life and was hoping it was an anti-plastic rant about supermarkets) brings to mind Chuck Schuldiner with its acoustic passages and twists and turns all pummelled by the might of Messrs Vella, Klebanoff. Musgrave and (appropriately named) Power.
Max Klebanoff often sounds like he is struggling to keep his drums at pace with Derrick Vella and Payson Powers blistering riffs , but he does. His vocals are a perfect tortured gargle which I love in DM and ride astride Steve Musgraves rumbling low end.
If you have heard these guys before you know that they are not afraid to change pace and often drop in sludgy riffs and classic metal breaks to highlight the darkness.
Tomb Mold are story tellers – this album appears (I do not have a physical copy or lyric sheet) to tell tales of bizarre alien lifeforms mixed with Lovecraftian horror. “Phosphorene Ultimate” is a scene setting interlude that paves the way for the title track which is subtitled They Grow Inside Pt 2 – the sequel to the opener on Tomb Mold’s debut.
Planetary Clairvoyance is a jerky , groovy track with blastbeats and massive riffs. Foot stomping, headbanging, air guitarring, horns flicking goodness. Hell yeah. When that last pummelling riff kicks in? Metal orgasm baby! It segues nicely into “Accelerative Phenomenae” which has a touch of early Deicide to its groovy rumble. This is what this fella loves. Nice bit of mid paced crush surrounded by catastrophic mayhem. Pure escapism.
“Cerulean Salvation” has a riff that could come straight off a latter day Priest platter. It screams metal with sun shining off of chrome as a majestic hellish jetski blasts through a swamp. Ya get me? Frenetic drums and spiralling riffs just add to the urgency.
By the time “Heat Death” brings up the rear I am breathless like a Barbara Cartland heroine. Planetary Clairvoyance is a septet of blistering tracks that manage to feel spiky and moist at the same time. Like a Martian swamp complete with many tentacle beings with eyes for teeth.
I can even forgive them for losing the “u”.
(8/10 Matt Mason)
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