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Previews:

  • PREVIEW – WUCAN Tour 2019
  • PREVIEW – Amorphis Turkey Tour
  • PREVIEW: Hell over Hammaburg 2019

Tempelores HOTlist

Editorial

  • Win tickets to DIE SKEPTIKER show!
  • Where are they now? – Jeroen Jaquet (Phaedra List/San Andreas)
  • Yearlists 2018
  • Baptized in Metal – Gamze Öyunc
  • Baptized in Metal: Miguel Melo
CD/DVD Reviews

Mother’s Tomb – Absent Not Dead

by Sarp Esin 7 October 2019

Label: Redefining Darkness Records
Release Date: 27/09/2019

One of the things that you notice very quickly when you get into metal is that death is a very common subject matter across the board. This is doubly so in the case of death metal, which has the word (and the phenomenon) built right in. Death bands love dabbling in things to do with graves, burial, dead bodies and so on.

Case-in-point: choosing Mother’s Tomb as your band name.

Mother’s Tomb play death metal with tech death leanings. You have your crushing (somewhat groovy) death riffs, menacing bass and pummeling drums set under growling, throaty vocals – i.e. your standard death arsenal delivered with gusto… but, things aren’t so simple, as Absent Not Dead progresses, the band starts showing a more technical side, with each song dabbling more into techdeath pastures more than the last, which, if nothing else, shows some impressive (and impressively nuanced) musicianship.

To be a bit more specific: the opener, Mutual Hostility, is a blazing inferno of death riffs, double bass, neat little palm-muted shrieks and overall balls-to-the-wall goodness. The fun continues with Slaughtering Innocence which does away with the hard and fast but ultimately light speed of Mutual Hostility for somewhat slower but definitely heavier pastures. This culminates in the titular track, Absent Not Dead, which features more pronounced, popping, mean ass bass and some neat little pinches scattered throughout the relentless and riffing that’s not so technical to compete with the likes of, say, First Fragment or anything, but definitely holds its own.

However, there are two things that bother me. Firstly, Absent Not Dead is an EP and while I understand the need for a more gentle segway into the first track, but having a 37-second acoustic “intro” track separately from the other three makes no fucking sense. Second is the rather claustrophobic production. Not because it’s brickwalled (quite the opposite) but because you can almost hear the length and width of the breadbox studio space this thing was probably recorded in. Absent Not Dead sounds oddly muffled, resulting in a somewhat hollow sound (in that tight a space, too!) This is not entirely bad. The fresh production is different than anything else and does do a good job of dedicating space to the instruments, especially the bass (thank fuck.) But the vocals sit somewhat uncomfortably somewhere in the forefront and the drums are lacking in mids.

But these are highly deal-breaking gripes, as just a fledgling band with only this much promise in just a demo is well worthy of attention. Absent Not Dead is a very good start and hopefully the start of something beautiful. Watch these guys, they are gonna do great things. Recommended.

Line-Up:
Donny Hamilton – vocals
Jason Schwartzwalder – guitars
Vincent Dibona – guitars
Brad Jones – bass
Jon McDonald – drums

01. Eternal Sleep (Intro)
02. Mutual Hostility
03. Slaughtering Innocence
04. Absent Not Dead

Mother’s Tomb on Facebook
Mother’s Tomb on Bandcamp

  • Previous Cult of Luna – A Dawn To Fear2 months ago
  • Next Vorna – Sateet Palata Saavat2 months ago

Concerts/Festivals:

  • 26,27,28-11-2019 Jinjer, The Agonist, Khroma and Space of Variations
  • 01-11-2019 Finsterforst
  • 16-11-2019 Opeth
  • 05-11-2019 The 69 Eyes
  • 24-10-2019 Moonspell

CD/DVD

  • Wooden Soldiers – Wooden Soldiers
  • Caronte – Wolves of Thelema
  • Jo Berger Myhre / Olafur Björn Olafson – Lanzarote
  • Plexiphones – Break In The Cloud
  • Rainbows Are Free – Head Pains
  • Revel in Flesh – The Hour of the Avenger
  • The Silent Frontier – Ancestral Legacy/Veil of Mist
  • Trépas – L’héritage du monde
  • Reveal! – Scissorgod
  • The Curse of Millhaven – Thresholds

tempelores

Instagram post 2189294759466601199_5649293214 Have you seen the @theagonistofficial  on tour?  Our article on the tour with #jinjer #khroma and #spaceofvariations is now online! #linkinbio #macro #orphans #macrotour #spaceofvariations #khromaband #soldoutshows #livephoto #concertshot #vocalist #femalefronted #metalheadsunited #dynamo #eindhoven
Instagram post 2186231598647878648_5649293214 So we were at @khromaband  show yesterday. They are touring with @theagonistofficial and  @jinjer_official. Looks like fun heh? Some more shows ahead! Recommended by us! #khroma #jinjer #theagonist #metalband #concertphotography #liveshot #gigjunkie #ontheroad
Instagram post 2155169510204669006_5649293214 As we already told last week, our reporter went to see #velcra  in #helsinki. Here is a photo she took from @jessi.frey . Find more about the evening in the review on our website. #linkinbio #jessifrey #industrialmetal #nosturi #legendarygig #gigreview #liveshow #musicjunkie #femalefronted #greatshow photo by: @umberrella
Instagram post 2154491581595193437_5649293214 We are in a heavy editting modus after all these gigs from this weekend, but we wanna give out a teaser. Here is @misterer666 which was playing in @nosturivenue . #thrashmetal #misterer #misterermonday #metalheads #drummer #mikkoherranen  #vocalist #partyoftheyear #musicphotography #liveshots 📸 by: @umberrella
Instagram post 2145626156282600136_5649293214 #velcra will be playing one show  next week in #helsinki. We are looking forward to that!!! Also, @iiwanajulma  will be playing and they have a new release!!! @misterer666 will be playing as well so you cannot miss this party!  Photo by: @umberrella in 2007. #jessifrey #industrialmetal #thrash #alternative #throwback #gigmemories #concertphoto #metalheadsunited #nostalgia
Instagram post 2123316127500312617_5649293214 Lzzy says 'like'. What do you say?  well... we more than liked @halestormrocks performance at @tuskafestival  this year! 
#hardrock #halestorm #lzzyhale #vicious #vocalist #womenofrock #metalqueen #sherocks #tuskamemories #concertjunkie #liveshow #livephoto photo: @umberrella
Instagram post 2114108812617465970_5649293214 We enjoyed seeing @visionsofatlantis earlier this year at @tuskafestival.  The band had to borrow quite a lot to get the show going (#airportdrama), but rocked it anyway. They have a new album out soon! #symphonicmetal #femalefronted #Wanderers #napalmrecords #metalqueen #femalevocalist #femme #ClémentineDelauney #metalgirl #singersofinstagram
Instagram post 2112444848603623973_5649293214 @officialpowerwolf was firing it up at @intothegravefestival . What's your favorite headliner this season?! #powerwolf #headliner  #themetalmass #powermetal #theSacramentofsin #attiladorn #itg2019 #intothegrave #leeuwarden #germanband #Germanmetal
Instagram post 2111607985766710792_5649293214 @deathangelofficial was our overall fave at @intothegravefestival. Even securityguards went crowdsurfing during their set! Seems like we were spotted... #deathangel #deathangelofficial #humanicide #blackharbourentertainment #thrashmetal #MarkOsegueda #intothegrave #itg2019 #bayareathrash photo by: @umberrella
Instagram post 2111144171493566291_5649293214 @queensrycheofficial was a great joy to see at @intothegravefestival! Have you seen our report already? #queensryche #theverdicttour #gigmemories #festivalday #livephotography #vocalist #heavymetal #ToddLaTorre Photo by: @umberrella
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Interviews

  • Moonspell – 24-10-2019
  • Demon Head – 02-08-2019
  • Radio Moscow – 20-03-2019
  • Bjørn Berge – 27-02-2019
  • Hell Obelisco – 02-04-2018

News

  • BISMUTH SIGN TO PROSTHETIC RECORDS; ANNOUNCE TOUR DATES
  • Roadburn 2020: new names confirmed ahead of day ticket launch
  • IDLE HANDS & HIRAX at Party.San Open Air
  • Exodus plays special set at DMF 2020
  • Benefit -> Iggyfest

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