Enter the Nebula
Tomb Mold
Planetary Clairvoyance
Tomb Mold maintain their inhuman release pace with this followup to last year’s acclaimed Manor of Infinite Forms. Despite only a year between releases, the new album has a very different sound, following in the band’s other tradition of reinventing themselves with each record. Planetary Clairvoyance delivers a more savage assault than the knuckle-dragging riffage heard on its predecessor. The churning guitars and drums on songs like “Beg For Life” and the title track constrict like a cold tentacle, squeezing the life out of you while a cluster of ancient eyes contemplate your death. The barrage is broken up by slower, doomier moments that bring you to your knees, like the breakdown in “Infinite Resurrection.” It’s that cavernous style of death metal that Tomb Mold are so adept at, channelling Incantation, along with bands like Demilich and Disincarnate. There’s also a higher dose of Cynic and Human- era Death this time around, notably on “Cerulean Salvation.”
What makes Planetary Clairvoyance stand out, though, is its rich and complex sound. It’s somehow vast and claustrophobic at once, just like its setting in the outer reaches of space. The band channel their influences so effectively that the album sounds new and familiar at the same time, while the production imbues a quality of coldness to its intensity. Planetary Clairvoyance is an exceptional death metal album. It’s eerie, heavy and has just enough technicality to keep it interesting without detracting from its impact. (20 Buck Spin)
How does the name Planetary Clairvoyance relate to the themes on the album?
The title track is about manipulating a planet so that its consciousness could operate on a higher scale, but what the planet ends up doing is destroying itself and everyone on it. Every song on this record is a metaphor for things ending, things changing, growth.
What inspired the shift to cosmic horror / sci-fi on the new record?
I think with the subject matter, it just fit really well. It’s a lot easier to express feelings of everything I just mentioned using the vast emptiness of space.