I always wondered what I liked better. Brutal, harsh Death Metal, or just vile and terrible Black Metal. And the answer is, it depends. After all, both genres hunt in the same or similar corners of metal’s smelly underbelly. Yet, quite often, Death Metal gives a songwriter much better traction for all sorts of debaucheries. And whilst the blackened folks are steeped in tradition and self-inflicted rules,1 the deathly ones can let loose any which way they choose. Yet again, some of them forgot that just brutalizing the audience like some abominable monstrosity may not necessarily lead to great records either. So, what’s it gonna be? More mindless atrocities or genteel lessons in cruel yet refined eviscerations? Hide the knives, I say. Or somebody may get hurt.
Already the name of the band – Negative Vortex – had our heads spinning the wrong way. The RMR crew expected a cruelly unhinged metal load – and was not disappointed. Tomb Absolute greets you with next-level Death Metal that’s on par with pretty excellent DM records covered late last year. Only this time, the record wallows deeply into a dystopian vision of a dire future, mental disturbances, and what have you. In other words, doom, gloom, but also utmost vile brutality are the piece’s grim vocation. And to nail this funeral-ready coffin firmly shut, the band invited a score of guest musicians to partake in the endeavor. Kam Lee of Massacre or Nick Holmes from Paradise Lost may be the two of the most prominent ones.
Tomb Absolute – the title song – already gorges with blistering blast beats, thrashy thundering riffs, soaring solos, and shuddering vocals that assail yer eardrums in some sort of total war assault. That’s one track that for long stretches sounds like some demented version of Black Sabbath, devil’s music included. But it also provides a great glimpse of the essence of this album.
In a way, it’s the variety of the piece that adds quality to the undeniable musical prowess of this American/Brazilian duo on stark display. For once, here’s to a band that didn’t join the tech death chorus so prevalent in 2022. But otherwise, they pulled out pretty much all the stops. Doom is indeed their backbone. But you’ll get slammed about the soundscape more often than you would like. Just to find yerself in the blender of traditional, old-style DM a bit later. From a heavy stomp to the voice of the daemon talking to you, you got it all.
Yet, it is the production that Tomb Absolute truly shines with. There may be a few elements too many in there for its own good. But the mix won’t lose anything important either. Vocals elegantly straight down front-center, M. Feschner‘s2 crazily tilted solos and rough-hewn, meaty riffs straight in yer face, with the keyboard grating away in the background. Even if these solos sometimes crazily sound like emerging straight from Rogga Johansson’s backstage. But then, this might be the aforementioned Massacre guy all over again. You’ll even find the bass always right where it belongs, albeit that it may be a tad too locked into the riffing. So, I fully buy the promo guy’s argument stating that the record was painstakingly – and I quote – “…assembled from sheer pain and perfectionism.”
And whilst – at first – the record revels in the harshest Death Metal, there’s a move towards the doom end of the spectrum as the tracklist progresses. In other words, what was upbeat before goes full Paradise Lost once Weeping Moon takes off. And this change of mood is – again – proof of advanced songwriting.
Ultimately though, Tomb Absolute is a mind-boggling debut album. Negative Vortex here already covered some of that same material in a demo back in 2015. That was some seven years ago, and since then – nada. This is a band that likes to take its friggin’ time to get somewhere. But hey, everything just got an upgrade to a 54-minute scorcher with some serious new spice. A multi-layered behemoth that didn’t waste any time showing its rough and dreary colors. A DM tour de force with excellent material and better execution still. Ain’t possible, you think? Challenge accepted, hit play, digest it, and then talk. We’re waiting.
Ed’s note: Need more of this? Try Orphalis or try some snake for a change.
Record Rating: 8/10 | Label: Sentient Ruin | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 20 January 2023