RSS Feed


TOMBSTONER
Rot Stink Rip

Redefining Darkness (2024)
Rating: 7.5/10

I saw the band name and prayed that this wasn’t going to be a stoner “doom” record, and thankfully my prayers were answered. I hadn’t been familiar with this Staten Island, New York-based death metal act even though this is their second full-length album; I missed their Victims Of Vile Torture debut in 2021.

With Rot Stink Rip Tombstoner serves up a zombie apocalypse of an opus that froths, foams and feverishly retaliates against the hordes of the hungry undead. The vocals veer toward a death-thrash hostility, a touch generic in their ranting but most certainly in your face alongside the busy riffs as showcased on the violent ‘Sealed In Blood’ and the equally belligerent title track.

Some of the shifts contained within the album remind me of Morbid Angel, although Tombstoner are cleaner and less evil in their striking. One could also argue that there is an essence of Cannibal Corpse about some of the rhythms, but Tombstoner is definitely a forceful band able to blow away any cobwebs with their frantic battering.

There is an element of groove grinding going on with ‘Fuckin’ Nasty’, which also showcases the bands humour, but the most noticeable aspect of the combo’s delivery is the clever shifts in pounding and pummeling. But aside this they also have an eye for catchiness, as explored on the entrance of ‘Compulsive Ruminations’ with its tense, mid-paced energy.

To an extent the band boasts a mid-to-late 90s dynamic, never resorting to the stink they hint at with the album’s title. ‘Metamorphosis’ is also rhythmically lethal as bass and drum combine to create a churning structure of metallic gnashing. It’s all extremely well crafted and produced, and with songs like ‘Vials’ I even detect a Napalm Death vibe.

Rot Stink Rip is a bit of an understated death metal record in my opinion but one which, in spite of its modesty, should ruffle a few feathers with its snarling.

Neil Arnold

<< Back to Album & EP Reviews



Related Posts via Categories
Share