Tombs – Feral Darkness Review

By Kenstrosity

This is my first time reviewing Brooklyn’s Tombs, but it’s not my first time experiencing them. Each year that a new Tombs drops, I feel the hype machine churning from the community, which I love, disinterring my interest in the sludgy, blackened call Tombs is now known so well for. It’s been five years since the somewhat divisive Under Sullen Skies first graced my ears, and now I take over for Doom_et_Al to serve at the foot of Feral Darkness.

Tombs pushes forward with much of their confident, swaggering style intact. A boisterous mix of Black Royal groove, Oathbreaker vitriol, and a touch of that post-tinged Inter Arma nastiness, Feral Darkness makes a strong case for the style. A burbling, clanging bass tone and stomping drum kit drives this record with greater heft than I experienced on previous installments, evoking a deep-seated, monstrous rage that rattles my bones. Meanwhile, a frightening howl and a chanting croon ensorcells the spirit in much the same way as those who call upon eldritch forces maleficent and omnipotent, Sulphur Aeon. Filling the space between, a crunchy guitar tone lightly dusted with a moldy, post-metal fuzz envelops my senses and draws a sense of warmth into my flesh.

It’s a highly successful sound, one that is sometimes relegated to songwriting that doesn’t take full advantage of its power. Admittedly, Feral Darkness launches in fine form, with three muscular, riff-laden numbers that, while all falling somewhere inside the mid-paced category of speed, nonetheless propel with force. However, somewhere between the final third of the gloom-and-doom “Granite Sky” and the charred and post-y “Last Days,” monotony sets in. A lack of variation in pace wears on the mind, and a dearth of creative songwriting or exciting ideas siphons impact and memorability from the first half. As such, in moments where my time is precious, I struggle to commit to the rest of Feral Darkness’ bloated 50-minute runtime.

With time and some patience, I learned to remind myself that at this exact moment, a minor miracle occurs. “The Wintering” explodes in a burst of violent velocity capable of beheading those weak of upper spine, and Feral Darkness finds firm footing at last. The hits keep coming, too, as evil cuts like “Black Shapes” and the deathly “Wasps” double down on the blackened side of Tombs’ multifaceted personality. Layered tremolos and striking energy form a ashen shell that coats the final third of the record, as if to signify the final evolution of Feral Darkness’ story. Consequently, a new sense of scale builds a formidable presence that makes me forget my earlier quibbles, at least for a moment. Latecomer “Nightland” reprises those issues that plagued the first half, bloating the runtime with seven minutes of uninspired eeriness and a lack of compelling songwriting to go with it.

Tombs unearthed every tool they had in their long-established kit to craft Feral Darkness. I respect that level of versatility, and at the end of the day, the result is enjoyable, albeit a little choppy. Feral Darkness’ best material handily saves the record from falling down the pit of boredom, but it arrives almost too late. If they focused their efforts on their strongest ideas and left fluffy filler like “Nightland,” “Last Days,” or superfluous closing outro “Glaeken” on the cutting room floor, Tombs would’ve had an unstoppable, destructive monster to showcase to the world. As it stands, Feral Darkness will certainly please established fans of the band or the style, but might not convince skeptics or casual passers-by. It’s up to you to decide in which camp you belong.

Rating: Good
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Redefining Darkness
Websites: tombscult.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/TombsBklyn
Releases Worldwide: October 17th, 2025

#2025 #30 #AmericanMetal #BlackMetal #BlackRoyal #FeralDarkness #Hardcore #InterArma #Mastodon #Oathbreaker #Oct25 #PostMetal #RedefiningDarkness #Review #Reviews #Sludge #SludgeMetal #SulphurAeon #Tombs

Modder – Destroying Ourselves for a Place in the Sun Review

By Grin Reaper

Blending sludge metal and electronica make for fascinating bedfellows, and that’s exactly what instrumental outfit Modder brings to the table with Destroying Ourselves for a Place in the Sun. I don’t recall encountering this genre combo before, but the unlikely pairing fits together in compelling and novel ways. Destroying Ourselves for a Place in the Sun is one part early Mastodon and one part The Prodigy, and it works better in practice than I’d ever expect it to on paper. Both styles embrace the bottom end, and in a live setting, I imagine Modder is unapologetically crushing. But it takes more than novelty to guarantee a grand time, so let’s dig in and see what goodies this Belgian quintet serves up.1

Though third outing Destroying Ourselves for a Place in the Sun unites sludge and dance, it wasn’t always so, as Modder has evolved with each release. On their self-titled debut, Modder trod the well-worn doom path with low-end crunch and abundant fuzz, recalling Sleep and Electric Wizard. Sophomore album The Great Liberation Through Hearing injected quicker paces and subdued attitudes, delivering a rich variety of textures that plays like Inter Arma sans vocals. Destroying Ourselves for a Place in the Sun continues the evolution of Modder’s sound, this time embracing dance-ready pulses and electronic trappings that occasionally approach Fear Factory’s Remanufacture (“Chaoism”). It’s a direction hinted at on The Great Liberation Through Hearing, but here Modder triumphs in fully fleshing it out.

On Destroying Ourselves for a Place in the Sun, Modder succeeds in evoking an assortment of influences while maintaining the band’s distinct identity. From the Korn-fed intro of “Stone Eternal” to the Gojira-glazed grooves of “In the Sun,” the album packs a broad range of sounds into its forty-two minutes. Each one of the album’s six tracks brings unerringly heavy riffs. “Mather” begins with a Prodigy-induced flourish, then drops into a disgustingly dense lurch that shakes the room like a herd of mammoths tromping past. Guitars, bass, and electronics weave an intricate tapestry, with melodies and countermelodies coalescing into grooves thicker than a bowl of oatmeal (“Stone Eternal,” “Mutant Body Double”). The drumming flits and hammers, with actual and programmed drums enabling quick shifts between sludge and breakbeat (“Chaoism”). This five-piece flaunts chops, and they pack them into an easily digestible package.

Even if Modder’s latest is a barrel of fun, its imperfections hold it back from greener pastures. For starters, the mix is distractingly crowded. I suspect the goal was to create a concussive bombshell that rattles listeners to the core. While effective on that front, there are times when the sludgy crunch warps into over-compressed artifacts (“Stone Eternal,” “Mather”). This may be a challenge with the merger of styles, where the electronic elements don’t require the auditory depth needed to express the timbre of acoustic drums or bass. Instead, the music gets rammed through the aural equivalent of Fat Man’s Squeeze, coming out the other side flat and jarring. Another issue with Destroying Ourselves for a Place in the Sun is immediacy. Both sludge and dance emanate a hypnotic sheen onto their styles, whether through towering, droning riffs or persistent electro-throbs. This makes great music for focusing on other tasks, but rarely did I stay engaged for an entire listen. If the goal is to surpass the novelty of instrumental electrosludge, something more is needed. As it is, Modder has strung together fun moments without enough cohesion. If you remove one of the songs or reorder them, the end result doesn’t change substantially, indicating that the whole is no greater than the sum of its parts.

Destroying Ourselves for a Place in the Sun is a study in cross-genre pollination that bears fruit worth sampling, but won’t sustain you for long. I really like the idea of what Modder has concocted, but the album would have benefited from further refinement. A more dynamic mix would immediately boost listenability, and upping their songwriting game could help push their brand of electrosludge past the point of novelty and into territory with more active engagement and longevity. Modder oozes potential, but there’s ultimately not enough on Destroying Ourselves for a Place in the Sun to keep me coming back.

Rating: Mixed
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kpbs mp3
Label: Consouling Sounds / Lay Bare Recordings
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: October 3rd, 2025

#25 #2025 #BelgiumMetal #ConSoulingSounds #ConsoulingSoundsRecords #DestroyingOurselvesForAPlaceInTheSun #ElectricWizard #ElectronicDanceMusic #ElectronicMetal #Electronica #ElectronicaMetal #Electrosludge #FearFactory #Gojira #InstrumentalMetal #InterArma #Korn #LayBareRecordings #Mastodon #Modder #Oct25 #Prodigy #Psychedelic #Review #Reviews #Sleep #Sludge #SludgeMetal #TheProdigy

I am now listening to New Heaven by Inter Arma #InterArma
https://www.last.fm/music/Inter+Arma/_/New+Heaven
New Heaven — Inter Arma | Last.fm

Watch the video for New Heaven from Inter Arma's New Heaven for free, and see the artwork, lyrics and similar artists.

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Sodom Taps into the Living Dead on Latest Single “Taphephobia”
'The Arsonist' comes out June 27. Sodom Taps into the Living Dead on Latest Single “Taphephobia” .

https://www.metalsucks.net/2025/06/04/sodom-taps-into-the-living-dead-on-latest-single-taphephobia/

#Sodom #Taphephobia #MetalSucks #TheArsonist #LivingDead #Single #Album #RiversOfNihil #HolyFawn #InterArma

SteelFeed: Oberhausen / Druckluft / Bury The Liar / 2025-07-26

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