As the great pendulous fingers of change gnarl in their eternal reshaping of the cosmos so align those folds and ripples with the weaving plasticity of the creative human brain. Not small green squishy men but, ancient incomprehensible horrors of impossible size and equally abominable influence prod, mutate and envelop the evolution of man within the only ever-changing aspect of his physiology. These forces unseen and unknown offer gifts of passionate inspiration and undying drive to only a select few who see opportunity in the terror of distortion and make their own great sense of it. To say that Tomb Mold have been psychically fingered by the ancient ones’ and graced with hallucinatory treasures is not a bold statement when considering how deftly and quickly they achieve inspirational death metal eructations. This gaseous phenom included.

The explosive cosmic horror of this Toronto, Canada quartet survives just three months beyond the realms of ‘Manor of Infinite Forms’ sublime splattered madness within the space-flung and deepening grooves of this two song demo tape that takes us from the spires of Kadath up to the writhing planetary muck above. So many fresh-assed cool dude death metal projects serve as aspirational pits of learning for the nicest nerds across the planet but few just ‘get’ the craft as Tomb Mold does in practice and even fewer make it appear effortless. It isn’t effortless, death metal is difficult and intensive work that can still read as incredibly bland and forced garbage with the wrong sensibilities applied. With the right stuff in mind, and gripped with capable hands, the phenomenal propulsive force of Max Klebanoff (as an entity) is immediate; Burly vocal and insistent drumming provide inspirational gust for the vanishing corridors created by guitarists Derrick Vella and Payson Power (who I only assume collaborated here). So much is packed into the two song, twelve minute tape but the bulk of it is riff upon riff.

The actual sound of the demo finds a medium between the roughened jib of Anesthesy‘s ‘Exaltation of the Eclipse’ and the atmospheric ventures of early Wicked Innocence (see: ‘Anthropological Infestation’ in particular) thanks to a varied and occasionally erratic approach to lead guitars alongside atmospheric soundscapes that cushion the space before and after each track. There is a mushy Timeghoul-ish feeling to the demo that you might hear more on the title track, minus Tony Holman‘s ‘brutal’ style. The riffs themselves could be viewed in relation to the previously mentioned records but I’d be overlooking the rotten grooves that help define Tomb Mold and I find the these bounding, angular species of riff come from admiration of the demo era of Xysma as well as the pre-’94 run of Necrony. The same sort of angular ‘hardcore’ informs the battery of grooves that hit (see: the second half of “Planetary Clairvoyance (They Grow Inside II)”).

As with any release from these guys the hits push along quickly with just enough detail that you’ll want to return to and sit within it. Yeah, I mean it slaps your cheeks hard throughout but the real value of the Tomb Mold experience beyond the visceral sound and riff-driven nature of their songwriting sits in those finer details. There is something to be said for the sci-fi ambient horror that surrounds these songs as well but you’re better off going and checking it out for yourself at this point. Highly recommended.

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