Richard HolmesStreet Tombs – Existence Is Corruption (Carbonized Records)
Brum ’89 and Sante Fe ’17.
What the fuck do they have in common?
Well, it’s not the weather.
Or the accents.
But The Mermaid, the Birmingham pub where Bolt Thrower, Sacrilege, Napalm Death et al cut their teeth, nourished an embryonic scene that inspired countless acts.
And that influence runs deep in Street Tombs.
Sante Fe is known for its artistic community and independent venues, and the quartet’s origins lie in The Cave, a DIY space where punk and metal acts ignited. It was New Mexico’s equivalent to The Mermaid, or Gateshead’s near-mythical anarchohub The Station, or Bradford’s legendary 1 in 12 Club.
So Street Tombs, fittingly, sound like crusties playing death metal. Which is often (and in this case absolutely) a good thing. The production – courtesy of Greg Wilkinson – certainly hints at early ‘Thrower, or even Autopsy’s first forays. The bass rumbles and grinds. Damian Jacoby’s vocals are soaked in cold war dread, which match his subject matter. “Radiation levels race higher as the world burns”, he roars on Pestilent Storm.
Indeed, much of Existence Is Corruption hits like an atomic blastwave.
Street Tombs, however, don’t rely on nuclear percussion or supercharged shredding to achieve that effect.
No. This is a relentless onslaught. Raw, occasionally ragged and utterly lethal. .
Street Tombs step up
2023’s Reclusive Decay was the first taste of ‘Tombs and there’s been no evolutionary leap since then. The grit embedded into Rising Torment remains lodged under the skin.
But their songcraft has sharpened up.
Systematic Suffering is a prime example. There’s a spectral essence to it that was missing in earlier material. Combine that with jagged, ice cold riffs and the result is a blackened masterstroke.
Septic Values, meanwhile, is a perfect one-two combo of punk and proto-death, and Braindead hits like a swirling vortex of sinewy riffs.
The word on the Street? This is old school death metal for a violent new age.
Be ready.
Band photo by Lloyd Gray.
