This intriguing project out of Buffalo, NY has connections to Parade of the Lifeless (who I recall writing about in the early days), Inertia, and Narakah and presents 10 songs of wildly progressive and technical death/grind in about a half-hour. The five-piece lineup actually includes three standalone vocalists, plus the guitarist/bassist and drummer also contribute vocals, but that being said, the songs are actually not jam-packed with vocals. In fact, there might even be fewer vocals than average, there are just plenty of tradeoffs and variety happening when they are present.
Eight-string guitars are in play, so expect an all-over-the-place assortment of furious flurries of notes and fast-paced changes from riff to riff, spanning from hyper-aggressive and chaotic chug/shred to atmospherically chilled-out with lush clean passages, jazzy melodic leads... the closer is even a full-on classical guitar piece!? Loads of amazing flare to the drumming, too. The arrangements are all pretty insane and I have no idea how the hell they remembered any of this stuff well enough to track the recordings!?
The overall vibe definitely strikes me as the kind of thing that should appeal to fans of the early Willowtip roster. I would've absolutely lost my mind over this material 20-some years ago, I can assure you. (And that's not to imply that I'm not impressed now.) It's really interesting, because despite its schizophrenically turbulent and crazy approach, it's very listenable. Certainly not catchy, but it's not a blurry mess. The writing pushes boundaries without extending too far.
Velocity Tomb also excels by featuring the most impressive and beautiful packaging I've seen in many, many years—easily rivaling what labels like Hydra Head and Escape Artist were doing decades ago. I have what I think would be considered the "normal" version of the CD (a number of extremely limited edition alternate packaging treatments are available) which comes in a standard jewel case with a textured clear tray. There's a double-sided, full-color obi strip down the left side and probably the coolest hype sticker I've ever seen down the right side. Then you've got a massive 20-page booklet with spot UV gloss accents loaded with intricately layered artwork, lyrics, and band photos—all of which look truly incredible. Seriously, even the lyrical presentation is full-on art.
Speaking of which, the lyrics tend to get as abstract as the music:
Campanile vents
Exude the day's heat
Arcing moonpaths
Claw-tangled seas
Ancient brick
The sky flirts with
Crustacean tide
A woodgrain heaven
Stark and distressed...
It breeds
The upright tombs
At times phrases include possible nods to other works ("Channeling static blackout," "Dead City Radio," "Greed Killing," etc.), but it's hard to say. I do get the feeling, though, that were one to find the time to really take the dive and analyze, there's probably much more going on here beneath the surface. Very cool outing.
Get It
- Bandcamp (CD, mp3)
- Apple Music (stream)
- Spotify (stream)
