originally written by Erik Highter
It’s reached a point where there are more ’70s-styled retro-doom bands then there were in the actual ’70s. Everyone with some vintage denim and an Orange amp is in a band, laying down some Iommi riffs and nodding along in a weedian haze. It takes something special, or something rather different, to stand out amidst the throng of proto-heshers. On their self-titled Svart Records debut, Finland’s Tombstoned are going for something different in the hopes of becoming something special.
The core of their sound isn’t unexpected. The Black Sabbath blueprint is strong, especially in the bass tone, which is so familiar it makes me wonder if there’s a pedal out there called the Geezer Stomp (if not, there should be. It never sounds less than awesome). There’s a fair amount of the expected Iommi-esque riffing, and they even break out the galloping shuffle Bill Ward used to such great effect. There’s also a good heaping helping of Blue Cheer in their heavy blues, as they go for a bit more low-end pummel than many of their contemporaries. There moments that feeling of having heard it all before seems strong enough to sink the album. But for all its familiarity there are some surprising deviations to Tombstoned‘s sound.
First, there are the vocals. Singer/guitarist Jussi Toropainen’s voice is impassioned, but at times when he reaches for those high notes it goes strikingly off key. There is an untrained charm in it; feeling over fidelity, a definite choice in this Pro Tooled world. There is also the vocal tone, which brings to mind no one as much as Robert Smith of The Cure. Sometimes that resemblance is uncanny. On their best song, the closer “Last Waltz”, Toropainen’s delivery is creepily true to the way Smith’s voice would crack and rise in the early 80s. Once that connection is made it’s impossible not to hear it.
The Robert Smith vocals are not the only bit of ’80s goth that Tombstoned bring to the table. On the album’s second track, “Daze of Disintegration”, the echoing drums bring on flashbacks; immediately, it’s slow motion shots of gender-neutral, velvet-clad frontmen bringing their hands up to their faces, covering all but their eyes as they look sullenly skyward. To paraphrase our own Dean Brown, it’s akin to Robert Smith fronting The Cult covering “Into The Void”. But it’s not just that one track; it wouldn’t be a surprise if the chorus to “Rat Race” turned out to be a lost 1981 demo from The Cure themselves.
This is the year that goth-rock and its associated genres made major headway into metal (e.g., In Solitude, Vaura, Beastmilk, Pinkish Black, etc.), but the last place it was expected to show up was in retro-metal. The Children of the Void have kept a purity as staunch and stalwart as any genre, but Tombstoned‘s willingness to open their sonic wardrobe to denim and lace make them one to watch for the future.
