Italian act Forgotten Tomb are back with their ninth studio album. Although they originally started as a solo project by Herr Morbid (guitar, vocals), both bassist Algol and drummer Asher have been with him since 2003’s ‘Loves Burial Ground’. The trio refuse to conform to any set genre, smashing pigeonholes to pieces as they blend eerie, dissonant Black Metal with muscular Sludge/Doom riffs and a subtle, nihilistic Punk attitude. This is music that is uncompromising from the off, but is also impossible to get a handle on as dark metallic riffs can be offset by triplets at the top of the neck, while those who are paying close attention will realise that the guys probably have way more in common with melodic metal than anyone would really like to admit.
The one thing that does shin through is the sheer bloody mindedness and determination: this is a band who know what they are doing, are good at it, and it is up to the audience to follow along but they’re not going to change their approach for anyone. They are all over the place musically, but always returns to a deep dark cave, filled with menace and foreboding. This isn’t a place of joy and light, but rather something that is very much on the more depressing and menacing side, and in that place these guys are kings.