video review: 'planetary clairvoyance' by tomb mold

And while death metal is not normally my thing, this kicks a lot of ass! Enjoy!

album review: 'planetary clairvoyance' by tomb mold

So I've said this before, I'll say it again: I'm not the biggest death metal fan - at all. Doesn't mean I can't recognize it or won't listen to it if it's playing, but as a subgenre of metal, it's never quite been my thing. And I've asked myself why a couple of times - if I'm not into the technical stuff, that's one thing, but melodic death metal is a thing that exists, and I've heard a decent bit of it, surely there's a middle ground and inroad for me to start hearing more of the genre.

Well, believe it or not, there is one death metal band I enjoy a considerable bit - all the more ironic because they aren't really perceived as one of the softer acts in the subgenre, with more of the comparisons trending towards a more rough-edged classic death metal with slightly filthier production: Tomb Mold. And I'm genuinely not sure what it is - I'm sure a part of it is tied to them being Canadian and thus me having seen them live about three or four times - and they're phenomenal live - but they managed to hit the sweet spot where they've got a genuine tunefulness in their composition, decent enough writing, and yet a chugging thickness across the board that doesn't sound blown out or chasing cheaply produced abrasion - there are levels of organic depth and pummeling presence to their sound that is entirely up my alley. And sure, Manor Of infinite Forms did clean things up a little to draw more attention to their excellent lead work, and you can always make the argument the group is a little one-dimensional and meat-and-potatoes - they are - but again, I'm not a death metal fan and there's something here that clicks. So I genuinely wanted to give their newest album Planetary Clairvoyance a spin, especially as some were calling it their best to date... so what did we get?

album reviews: 'hatsukoi' by utada hikaru / 'bark your head off, dog' by hop along / 'living proof' by state champs / 'manor of infinite forms' by tomb mold (VACATION!)

And that's the last of the vacation reviews... next up, let's talk about Florence + The Machine and hopefully it'll go better than last time - stay tuned!