_edited.jpg)
For the second full-length release from Denver's Glacial Tomb, the general public are about to be gifted a hulking behemoth of metal. 'Lightless Expanse' is a putrid mixture of the foulest music around, with large parts taken from both death metal and black metal but plenty of sludge, doom and even sprinklings of hardcore can be heard on a listen through.
Kicking things off with a suitably ominous first track title, 'Stygian Abattoir' sets the scene and sends the average heaviness of the area careening downwards. With chugged riffs, gutturals, and a thoroughly destroyed bass drum the band are setting up for a strenuous 40 minutes of cavernous brutality. Ripping into the second track 'Voidworm', the fourpiece sound as big as any six or seven member group with squeals and blasts every other second. Tempo changes are rife across the whole album, with particularly satisfying examples all throughout this song that will cause your face to contort almost involuntarily.
As the listening experience continues, a unique phenomenon occurs whereby you can feel yourself getting both smarter and stupider, as the cosmic sounds and themes make you feel wise beyond wise whilst the brutal riffs and shrieked gutturals bring out the caveman-with-a-club inside us all. 'Enshrined In Concrete' and 'Abyssal Host' provide plenty of both, with technical wizardry being paired up with underbite-inspiring breakdowns. Ben Hutcherson's inhuman vocal displays are a sound to behold, and his guitarring chops are not to be sniffed at either, whilst David Small pummels the low end into submission on bass and Mike Salazar engages in a furious arm-and-leg day at the gym from behind his kit to keep everything pinned down rhythmically.
The middle of the album does not let up, nor does it weaken in its writing or song titles. 'Sanctuary', the fifth song of the nine, is perhaps the least interesting title but does more than enough within its four minute and eighteen second runtime to make up for the fact. Immediately afterwards however is 'Seraphic Mutilation' which is a stone cold classic, one meat and two veg, old school death metal song title that we know and love - yet again with more juicy riffs and enough growls to scare off a pack of lions.
As the final third of the album rolls into view, we are yet again subject to more artillery drumming, icy guitar and acidic vocals. 'Worldsflesh' and 'Wound of Existence' are the two shortest songs on the album, at 3:36 and 3:35, although the longest track 'Enshrined In Concrete' is only 4:22 so there is not a significant difference anywhere. The final track on the album is the title track, and 'The Lightless Expanse' lives up to its position as album closer and titular song. With gargantuan leads, a club-swinging tempo, and vicious vocals, the trio have smashed each song here. Not only are the small solos dotted throughout wonderfully technical, the consistence of each song is remarkable and every track has something new to really engage with.
Whilst it 'Lightless Expanse' is a dense listen and will need attention in order to properly discern songs from each other at a glance, the effort is more than worthwhile as Glacial Tomb have served up one of the best extreme metal releases of the year. For the discerning death metal and black metal fan, this will serve you extremely well as a new album to dig your teeth into, and for those trying to get into the genre then you'll find plenty to love in this sonic abyss.
'Lightless Expanse' will be released on September 20th via Prosthetic Records.
Words: Jake Longhurst
Comentários