ALBUM REVIEW: The Enduring Spirit – Tomb Mold
Toronto death metallers TOMB MOLD blast back with The Enduring Spirit on 20 Buck Spin – the band’s first new album in four years – and its surprise release has been welcomed with open arms by lovers of their uniquely wild take on death metal.
With the band’s first three full-length albums – 2017’s Primordial Malignity, 2018’s Manor Of Infinite Forms and 2019’s Planetary Clairvoyance – all arriving so close together, you can sympathise with those who have been craving more from TOMB MOLD and it is with great pleasure that their prayers have been answered with this release. The band waste no time in announcing their return with the opening salvo of The Perfect Memory (Phantasm Of Aura) and Angelic Fabrications which showcases their deadly music with precision from the very start.
Where TOMB MOLD elevate themselves though is when they deviate from the death metal norm and branch out into more progressive styles of music that compliment their bloodthirsty DM onslaught perfectly. Songs like Will Of Whispers, Fate’s Tangled Thread and Servants Of Possibility have got this down to a tee and they show exactly how gifted the musicianship of TOMB MOLD truly is, and how their music can elevate you with their ideas and execution.
It feels great to have TOMB MOLD back after a hiatus and the fact that this album came out of nowhere along with the quality of musicianship in the execution of their songs seems to make it that bit more special. Closing number, the 11-and-a-half-minute behemoth that is The Enduring Spirit Of Calamity ends things on a sheer high with its truly epic take on the death metal meets progressive rock vibe coming to a logical conclusion and delivered with passion, vision and absolutely no fear. It is both a bold statement of intent and an absolute joy to listen to.
The Enduring Spirit is TOMB MOLD at their absolute best, a band who surprise you with the twists and turns their music makes but also a band who give you a comforting feeling with the reliability of their brutality. They are undoubtedly back with a vengeance, and let’s just hope that they don’t leave it as long for them to release more new music.
2023 has been a banner year when it comes to quality death metal releases with the legendary likes of OBITUARY, CATTLE DECAPITATION and INCANTATION alongside newer bands like CELESTIAL SANCTUARY, FROZEN SOUL and Horrendous all releasing amazing albums, and you can undoubtedly add TOMB MOLD to the list and definitely somewhere near the top come to that with the beautifully venomous and progressive glory of The Enduring Spirit.
Rating: 8/10
The Enduring Spirit is out now via 20 Buck Spin.
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