Tombs

Savage Gold (Relapse)

Roaring like a pissed-off dinosaur stuck in a tar pit, Tombs eagerly vomits blackened doomsludge on third album Savage Gold. Guitarists Mike Hill and Garett Bussanick grind gothic riffs lathered with the gunk from an overdue oil change, while drummer Andrew Hernandez II beats the unholy crap out of his kit. Hill’s asthmatic bellow reduces the libretto to pure paroxysm. The pounding “Portraits,” gloomy “Severed Lives,” and wonderfully odd “Deathtripper” betoken a metal band reaching new peaks in agile brutality.    

****

This article appears in June 27 • 2014.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

SUPPORT US

Michael Toland started writing about music in 1988 on the Gulf Coast, moved to Austin in early 1991, and has inflicted bylines upon the corporeal and digital pages of Pop Culture Press, The Big Takeover, Blurt, Amplifier, Austin.citysearch, the Austin American Statesman, Goldmine, Sleazegrinder, Rock & Roll Globe, High Bias, FHT Music Notes, and, since 2011, The Austin Chronicle.