Release
date: December 4th
2015. Label: Black Bow Records. Format: CD/DD
The
Tomb Of All Things – Tracklisting
Epigraph
Sol
Marasmus
Forgotten
Path
Through
The Luminous Dusk
The
Tomb Of All Things
Band
Members:
Clayton
- Monte - David - Andrew
Review:
UN
has provided a unique interpretation of death through sight and sound
that allows you to find solace in that there is no eviction from your
final home. They are the musical undertakers.
Fans
of heavy music will rejoice in hearing some root similarities of a
previous band, but this album stands on its own and flourishes in
harvest bloom. The UN demos are very good, but this album is great.
This
offering is slow, almost suspended in rendition, like a heavy earth
moving bulldozer being operated by a dead priest over broken
tombstones making rough terrain. This album will lower your heart
rate, but still enthrall, as you discover the end and fade away. Is
it too macabre to love this magnum opus of death? I don’t think so.
Be brave and dim the lights, because there is a strong intelligence
at work here.
It
is strange how completely one denies what's around the bend, yet this
band is here to provide the road signs to the dead end. It is more
than just a gentle reminder that there is a connection to all things,
and that all things pass on. This album captures a mood and a certain
influence is omnipresent in this work. It offers freedom for the
sceptic, because it is made from the sands of the hourglass and
generates the glow for the mood ring that emanates logic over
superstition. It is a pure release of power in knowledge and
realization.
The
album cover art is the perfect advertising for the music contained
inside, but I will let you form your own opinions on the artwork and
whether or not its depiction is that of an entrance or an exit to or
from a dead world…
Now
to the individual songs.
Epigraph
- an instrumental capturing melancholic echoes of the regrettable
past, wasted present, and unknown future. This provides spatial
sadness and achieves disambiguation for the upcoming chapters. In
short, it will clean your palette.
Sol
Marasmus - this song consists of distorted pummels that unhurriedly
clang in your ears and begin the return to waste process. The vocals
are hoarse bellows with purpose in agony. The guitar solo is clean
and precise, like a scalpel during an autopsy. A trance like
interlude during the half way mark will prepare you for embarking on
the remainder of your journey, like embalming fluid coursing through
your veins for afterlife mummification purposes. You will later be
exposed to dual vocals consisting of grief growls and human like
screams. The end of this song creates images of corpse flowers and
burning candles, visible through the smoke of funeral incense. This
recorded heaviness will leave you dumbfounded; yet fully absorbed in
this album’s entombed craftsmanship.
Forgotten
Path - this track is powerfully pure and downtrodden. It is a large
dirge that paints the picture of a barge that is essentially the
portrayal of an expedition vessel that is arriving in the new world,
but all on board are deceased. It is symphonic-like in composition,
alternating between massive distortion and more subtle strums. This
showcases the auditory architecture of anguish, heartache and ruin.
The closing part is uplifting in its funerary honors. There is even a
spoken word quote (Grand Inquisitor Silecio). This song is marvellous
in its manifestation of desolation and triumphant in its
commemoration of extinction.
Through
The Luminous Dusk - This is sonic grace. It is a song constructed
with crisp guitar work and an accompaniment of rumbling snarls. There
is a slow and elegant softer section that will make you want to sit
in an antique rocking chair and draw grandmother’s quilt over your
old, knobby knees that continuously remind you of your final retreat.
The guitar solo is undeniably of the old school heavy metal variety
and it is absolutely awesome. This is an epic achievement that will
grind you to your skeletal remains, encompass you in a brass urn, and
place you endearingly over the mantle piece of the family fireplace.
Brilliant stuff.
The
Tomb Of All Things -The soft beginning builds up to the bursting
release of devastation. There are cascading guitar melodies that are
reminiscent of a tears generated waterfall and groans that could be
from the sore throat of a suffering prehistoric man. The band shines
and levitates your insides. The gentle reflection passage pierces
your heart and then morphs into the fastest this album gets, not
unlike the galloping headless horseman who soars to reach the ending
of All Hallow Eve. This farewell song will leave you a trifle deaf as
you observe the threshold of departure and get blasted by death
trumpets and misery pipes. This is a majestic conclusion to a
magnificently textured album.
This
collection of music is not for the squeamish or faint of heart, but
it is definitely required listening when you are ready to accept the
experience. I can describe this form of art as a regal phantom in
today's dull world.
Although
this overall work evokes bleakness, you will find resolution and
comfort in being uncomfortable. I wholeheartedly believe that this
album is a successful experiment in the communication of spiritualism
through music that may offer an introduction into the discovery of
exodus regarding others and the recognition concerning the imminent
loss of the self. UN provides spiritual vision and an enfolding
message through this vibration in sound for those who wish to embark
and make the inquiry. This album is a truly tremendous and necessary
piece of work.
Welcome
to your funeral, the guest book is through the polished mahogany
door…
Words
by Nick Palmisano
Thanks
to Dewar PR and Black Bow Records for the promo. The Tomb Of All Things will be available to buy on CD/DD via Black Bow Records from December 4th 2015.
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