(written by Islander)
The cover image on Tooms‘ new album Karst might make most people wonder about the musical direction this trio from the west of Ireland decided to follow over the years that have passed since their 2020 full-length debut, The Orb Offers Massive Signals. It doesn’t seem to match up with the band’s reputation for creating progressive sludge metal that delivers punishing heaviness and oppressive gloom, digging deep into the muck of life.
It might make a bit more sense in the context of what the press materials circulated on behalf of the band’s label Cursed Monk Records say about Karst, referring to the guitars’ “rich, snarling effervescence beneath a crust of dried blood and dirt” and the music’s “sense of life, in all its glorious, torturous, filthy, vivid vibrancy”.
But Tooms’ appreciation of life’s gritty vibrancy and their perception of beauty within it is clearly quite different from what’s represented in a floral arrangement. To understand that, listen to “Lowlander“, the song from Karst we’re premiering today.
As “Lowlander” begins, Tooms greet listeners with a dissonant collage of unnerving sounds that squall, squirm, blare, and heavily throb, nearly drowning out a vocal sample. The drums kick in with vivid skull-smacking and gut-punching beats, but the music remains dismal and disconcerting as the guitars seem to wail and groan.
In the low end Tooms make use of floor-shaking bass heaviness, a brutishly thudding contrast with miserably squirming lead-guitar arpeggios in the upper elevations of the sonic range. Meanwhile, the drummer discharges electrifying fills and the vocals vent savage snarls and rabid howls, amplifying the song’s unsettling intensity.
The music also powerfully surges, heavily rumbles, hits like battering rams, and sizzles and sears as if channeling the agonies of someone slowly being de-fleshed — and the vocals begin to sound like that too.
Undeniably, “Lowlander” is intensely captivating, in the way that a headlock is captivating. It’s galvanic as well as distressing, intriguing as well as traumatic. And don’t be surprised if it gets rooted in your head after just one listen:
TOOMS Line-up:
Anto Donnellan – Bass
Kieran Grace – Drums/Vocals
Alex Hölzinger – Guitars/Vocals
Tooms recorded Karst with long-time collaborator Chris Quigley at The Meadow Studios. The album was mixed by Matt Bayles (Isis, Mastodon, The Sword, etc) and masteried by Chris Fielding (Conan, Darkest Era, Hooded Menace, etc).
Karst will be released on Double LP on May 29th via Cursed Monk Records and can be preordered now. They recommend it for fans of Mastodon, Inter Arma, Baroness, and Kylesa. Karst will also be out on CD via Road To Masochist, and on Cassette from Fiadh Productions. For more info, check the links below — and also listen to the album’s first single, “Whitehorn“.
PRE-ORDER:
https://cursedmonk.bandcamp.com/album/karst
https://roadtomasochist.co.uk/
https://fiadh.bandcamp.com/album/karst
TOOMS:
https://www.facebook.com/TOOMSband/
https://tooms.bandcamp.com/