AN NCS PREMIERE: SILENT TOMBS — “DISSOLVE”

(written by Islander)

Personal Records has already conclusively demonstrated its taste for a range of extreme metal genres, with a roster of releases that appeals to a variety of tastes. But the releases might show a special affinity for doom/death (or death/doom) metal, and we have a prime example of that today.

What we’re about to present is the second single from the forthcoming debut album of Silent Tombs, a Mexican band who whole-heartedly join “the primitive lineage of doom from the 1990s and early 2000s.” That album, Mourning Hymns From Beyond, is the work of an experienced lineup that now includes Enrique Martínez and Arturo Delgado handling guitars, Mauricio González on bass, Felipe González on drums, and Victor Mercado providing vocals.

The song we present today is “Dissolve“. The venomously harmonized riffing at the song’s onset is both immensely heavy and dismally squirming. The notes corrosively vibrate as drums ritualistically hammer and pound and the bass morbidly groans. When monstrous vocals arrive, they also vibrate, as if bone fragments and blood-soaked gristle are lodged in a malicious, growling throat.

The pacing segues into a slow, crushing lurch, oppressive and hope-extinguishing, but enlivened (if that’s the right word for such a creepy experience) by a mercurially swirling and miserably wailing lead guitar that’s contrastingly clean in tone. Another contrast arrives when the titanic chords withdraw, making room for picked notes that mystically gleam and a slow and soulful guitar solo, a sorrowful thing but a spellbinding one too.

The music towers again; the vocals bleed agony, both high and low; the piercing lead-guitar pours out flowing tears and pulses of pain; the pacing is stricken and staggering. A dismal harmony also returns, a dual-guitar moaning that sinks the heart to hear it. But it’s that slowly wailing lead-guitar that really worms its way into a listener’s head, a vaporous manifestation of loss, and maybe lost spirits.

We also want you to hear the first single, “The Crimson Sun“, if you missed it (or even if you didn’t). It’s a slow burn that initially greets the listener with the piercing tones of a yet another miserable guitar harmony, combined with gargantuan low-end staggers and crazed howls. Crushing agony is the order of the day, as the riffing begins to moan and scream and the drums batter harder.

The band continue turning up the heat, injecting viciously hard-hitting jolts and inflamed growls, but without leaving behind the stricken dual-guitar harmonies. They also turn down the heat, making way for rasping spoken words, melancholy strings, and an elegant collage of wistfully lilting notes — a bit of an enticing lull before the band start slugging listeners even harder than before as the lead guitar spills out its anguish in a vibrantly trilling and darting solo (making for quite a spectacular finale).

In both of these songs, and in the album as a whole, Silent Tombs demonstrate an impressive mastery of both pulverizing heaviness and heart-rending melody, combined with vocals that channel wretchedness and rage in horrifying ways. As the album’s name itself portends, they create mourning hymns of profound sorrow and pain, but shrouded in an aura that place them the mortal plane.

Mourning Hymns From Beyond will be released by Personal Records on October 17th, on CD and digital formats.

PRE-ORDER:
https://www.personal-records.com/product/pre-order-silent-tombs-mourning-hymns-from-beyond-cd/
https://personal-records.bandcamp.com/album/mourning-hymns-from-beyond

SILENT TOMBS:
https://www.facebook.com/SilentTombs