Tomb Mold

Invictus – Nocturnal Visions Review

By Kenstrosity on January 26, 2026 in Reviews, Death Metal, 79 comments

“Five years ago, I highlighted Invictus’ 2020 debut LP Catacombs of Fear as part of our year-end death metal roundup feature. Since then, the Japanese death metal trio toiled under the ground with a brutal live schedule and steadily wrote what might very well be my most highly anticipated follow-up in the death metal realm. Hot on the heels of killer releases from personal favorites like Depravity, and jumping just ahead of another highly anticipated salvo from Eximperitus, Invictus’ upcoming Nocturnal Visions has big shoes to fill and stiff competition to combat.” Captaining the soul.

Pedestal for Leviathan – Enter: Vampyric Manifestation Review

By Kenstrosity on December 12, 2025 in Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, Symphonic Metal, 27 comments

“Depending on what you already know about the castle to your left and what it holds, this review will either come late, very late, or right on time (read: actually on time or only slightly late). That’s because Colorado’s goth-soaked symphonic brutal death upstarts Pedestal for Leviathan originally self-released their debut LP, Enter: Vampyric Manifestation, on Halloween. In short order, it was picked up for distro by Gurgling Gore Productions, who released it again digitally on November 14th (with physical cassettes dropping December 12th). Then, Personal Records also picked it up for yet another digi release, along with a compact disc release, set for December 12th. Having none of this information prior to picking up Personal Records’ promo for review, needless to say, I was confused and frustrated. However, Enter: Vampyric Manifestation was simply too cool not to write about, so here we are.” Pedestal pushing.

Clairvoyance – Chasm of Immurement Review

By Maddog on July 27, 2025 in Reviews, Death Doom, Death Metal, Progressive Death, 26 comments

“Yes, I picked this up entirely because of its cover. Girardi’s gorgeous spiral of tombstones and skeletons conjures vintage highbrow death metal of the likes of Death. The title Chasm of Immurement grasps at brutal badassery in the vein of Suffocation’s Effigy of the Forgotten. Clairvoyance’s logo remains indecipherable even if you know the band’s name, suggesting kvltness galore. The promo materials describe lyrics that address the isolating effects of depression, foreshadowing a harrowing listen. In isolation, each of these judgments strikes at the truth but glances off. Chasm of Immurement is the debut album from Poland’s Clairvoyance, an unknown band comprising unknown musicians. Lying at the intersection of brainless death-doom and brainiac digressions, Chasm of Immurement is a powerful foray into death metal.” Are you not immured?

Re-Buried – Flesh Mourning Review

By Steel Druhm on July 18, 2025 in Reviews, Death Metal, 15 comments

“My second discount ticket to Scum Town in one week and the third since July started, Re-Buried’s sophomore outing, Flesh Mourning, brings more gruesome death to wallow in. These cretins of the crypt left a favorable impression on Olde Steelio with their 2023 Repulsive Nature debut, courtesy of hideously inspired death vocals and crushing riff work. It felt massive, monolithic, and inevitable, and the sheer weight of it all overcame occasional gaps in their songcraft. Flesh Mourning is more of the same festering, moldy-oldey brand of death with one foot in the morgue and the other in the swamp, with vocals that sound like a dying hobo wrenching out the contents of his ulcerated stomach after a long night of on-the-cheap debauchery.” Ain’t no Grave.

Disembodiment – Spiral Crypts Review

By Steel Druhm on July 10, 2025 in Reviews, Death Metal, 47 comments

“It’s been a minute since I got my iron claws stuck into some rancid, cesspool-grade death metal, and I was badly jonesing for some. Along comes Quebec-based filth-death crew Disembodiment with their Spiral Crypts debut, and they put Steel right back in the rot pit! Featuring a former member of Serpent Corpse, these canucks bring the seeping offal to the public toilets with nary an ounce of excrement left unsmeared.” Clogged potteries.

Ossuary – Abhorrent Worship Review

By Alekhines Gun on May 19, 2025 in Doom Metal, Death Metal, 34 comments

“These days, it seems like people get their idea of what “cavernous” should sound like from people who read about caves in books. Incantation are supposed to be the torch bearers for the subgenre, but they have sounded more like a facsimile of the sound for decades, and even more filthy modern equivalents like Funebrarum or Vastum still manage to sound like a studio imitation of what should be a raw and organic aural depiction. Drilling through the limestone and sporting some concerningly bloody tools, Ossuary have arrived with their debut full-length Abhorrent Worship, with the promo itself promising the album will open up a cave for you, dear listener, to die in.” Turn your head and cave.

Stuck in the Filter: February 2025’s Angry Misses

By Kenstrosity on May 9, 2025 in Stuck in the Filter, Black Metal, Death Doom, Death Metal, Folk Metal, Melodic Black Metal, Post-Metal, post-punk, Rock, Technical Death Metal, 105 comments

February was a filthy, dirty month and the Filter Techs are gonna tell you all about it,

Grave Infestation – Carnage Gathers Review

By Steel Druhm on March 4, 2025 in Reviews, Death Doom, Death Metal, Doom Metal, 33 comments

A double review of the latest nastiness Grave Infestation throw at the masses on Carnage Gathers like so much maggoty mulch. Gross!

Phrenelith – Ashen Womb Review

By Alekhines Gun on February 7, 2025 in Reviews, Death Metal, 51 comments

“In the early 2010’s, the world saw an explosion of the New-School-Old-School Revival of death metal. Spearheaded by outfits like Tomb Mold, Gatecreeper, Hyperdontia, and Undergang—to name but a few—this wave of bands represented taking the crust, filth, and savagery of your favorite genre founding fathers and launching them forth with wrath into of the modern era. Standing shoulder to shoulder near the front of this pack was Phrenelith, a Danish group whose debut Desolate Endscape made them scene darlings almost overnight. Unfortunately, sophomore release Chimaera opted for an increase in muck and atmospheric decor at the cost of some of their first album’s power, and was received somewhat divisively. Now, some four years later, Ashen Womb is prepared to drop like an anvil on their unsuspecting fanbase.” Evolution hurts.

Festergore – Constellation of Endless Blight Review

By Kenstrosity on November 26, 2024 in Reviews, Death Metal, 25 comments

“The old school death metal revival burgeons as profusely as ever. Countless buzzsaws, endless riff salads, and innumerable gravelly roars populate the landscape of the genre, with only the occasional differentiation to be found in the gene pool. Yet, we metalheads at large eat it right up. From aesthetics all the way down to engineering, albums released under the OSDM umbrella use and abuse a long-standing formula way past its expiration date, and still bangers abound. This, interestingly, makes the field an especially challenging one in which to excel. Staten Island’s newest old-school death quintet, Festergore, place their first bid in the pot with their debut Constellation of Endless Blight.” Blight here, right now.