» Blog Archive Album Review: Pennhurst/Xesse Double by T.O.M.B. -
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Some people are very familiar with bands like T.O.M.B. (Total Occultic Mechanical Blasphemy), SUNN 0)))))) and GULAGGH/STALAGGH come immediately to mind, within the Doom/Drone/Black Noise genre(s), and others are not so much. I fall into the first category, more through SUNN 0)))))) than any other band, including the one I am about to tell you about (Hint: It’s the acronym). All of these bands have a common thread, that of the most extreme, of being the HEAVIEST thing on the face of the planet. Something so noisy, so sound laden, most people feel its just that: noise only. Drone and doom are artforms unto themselves, with sludge filled static, throbbing bass and soundscapes, coupled into a wall that pushes the listener into a tide that drowns out your mind. It is a cleansing of sorts, one that scrapes everything away from your thinking mind, leaving whats left scoured clean. Black Noise metal goes even further, as it seeks to activate the primal mind, with unsettling sounds, derived from unlikely places. Such is with T.O.M.B., having recorded both Penn hurst and Xesse at the namesake of the former, Pennhurst Asylum (voted one of the most haunted places in the world).

Aerial view from it's storied past, showing the extent of the grounds.

Not much can be found about them, honestly. This is a true metal band, when not even google its own mighty self can tell you nothing! They are classified as the following genres: Raw, Noise, Black, Industrial, Black Noise, Drone, Sludge, Electronic. That was ridiculously hard to find, but worth the effort(?). They have had several releases, as transcribed by Encyclopaedia Metallum, with these being a demo (Pennhurst) and a LP (Xesse).

The degradation that the albums were recorded in.

While SUNN has a similar sound and pacing, only STALAGGH/GULAGGH have the same core as the “tunes” that TOMB (I hate typing the dots, so it will be written as thus. If you can’t tell what band you’re reading at this point, I have no hope for you) puts on this double album. As stated a bit above, most of this was recorded at an abandoned, HAUNTED (supposedly…) asylum. S/G is notorious for also doing something similar, but using audio (also supposedly) obtained from active asylums. The overall feel for those records (USP/Vorkuta) is somewhat disheartening, with a genuinely creepy vibe from the tortured screams, regardless of providence. The atmosphere becomes mired in a thickness, a tension that hangs on the air like static. It is no less felt from the vocal-less TOMB. There is nothing soft or relaxing on this album. Its starting sounds, on Primevil Sorcery, are those of a storm bringing bad dreams, with a throbbing bass sound that builds into static. From there its like your watching a film that devolves into melted strands. Its a ridiculously eerie noise. The entire album pretty much never lets up, but does change as soon as the second title track, Xesse, starts.

Like I said, there is no comfortable sound here, as there are no instruments that I can actually tell you for certain, there are no vocals like traditional bands use,they are predominantly groans, sibilants, chanting, and demonicly fuzzed out beyond being intelligible, and effects/sounds that just make me tense up, and at one point, I was panicked and angry for no reason. I admittedly love this kind of thing, an dI am impressed here. I am still listening as I am writing this review, and I keep hearing something right behind my right ear. Its awesome as background sound, but listener beware.

Facebook for T.O.M.B.
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