(written by Islander)
Yesterday we premiered a song from Dysgnostic’s new album End Whispers (you should go listen to it if you haven’t), and today we’re premiering a song from the debut album of Carbon Tomb. It’s fitting that they follow back-to-back, because Carbon Tomb was started by Dysgnostic member Richardt Olsen, who’s the guitarist and screamer within this newer band.
Like Dysgnostic, Carbon Tomb play a form of dissonant death metal, but don’t leap to the conclusion that the two bands are twins. Truly, they are not — they’re more like cousins — though both are very good at what they set their minds to do.
We have an example of Carbon Tomb’s own distinctive songwriting prowess through our premiere of a song intriguingly named “Reversed Head Renewal” from their first full-length, also intriguingly named — Passage to a Neutron Star — in advance of the record’s release by Transcending Obscurity Records on July 17th.
To be sure, “Reversed Head Renewal” is a real mind-bender, frequently bizarre and generally berserk, macabre enough to swiftly spin your head in one direction and then just as swiftly reverse the spin, leaving many loose screws careening about your jaw-dropped skull.
The shrill dissonance and gutting churn of the guitars are dominating presences in the music. The high-pitched spasms are the work of very fleet fingers which cause the rapidly quivering riffs to sound like sirens vibrating apart.
Interspersed among those recurring episodes of frantic madness, you’ll encounter bursts of blaring and jolting sound, viciously drilling tremolo’d furies, and different kinds of quivering riffage that sound distraught, confused, and even hopeless.
While the guitar contortions seize attention and keep it, the fast-changing drum-and-bass performances are almost equally mind-focusing. The rhythms canter, clatter, stomp, and blast, with lots of eye-popping drum-fills and bludgeoning brutality in the mix, and you’ll be able to feel the electrifying bass maneuvers in your lower intestines.
Last but not least, we should mention that the vocals are also as macabre as the instrumentation, though an order of magnitude more gruesome. They range from cavernous gutturals that gurgle and bark to rabid howls and monstrous sounds of near-choking.
It might take more listens to get this last point, though maybe not: As freakish and complex as the song is, it’s also a catchy mental virus — so be forewarned!
CARBON TOMB is:
Richardt (Dysgnostic) – Guitars and shrieks
Jeppe – Bass and growls
Mikael – Drums
The album’s mind-blowing cover art was created by Graphic No Jutsu.
Transcending Obscurity will release Passage to a Neutron Star on jewel-case CD and digitally, and it’s available with lots of clothing options. T.O. recommends the album for fans of Ulcerate, Dysgnostic, Devenial Verdict, Artificial Brain, and Mors Verum.
After the links we’ve also included streams of two previously released album tracks, “Chanting Spells” and “A Hidden Creature“.
PRE-ORDER:
https://carbontomb-label.bandcamp.com/album/passage-to-a-neutron-star
http://us.tometal.com/
http://eu.tometal.com/
CARBON TOMB:
https://facebook.com/carbontomb
https://instagram.com/carbontomb