In 2013 I reviewed the remarkably similarly named Tombstones and Tombstoned (check the archives of Ave Noctum), and it seems that 2016 will see history repeating itself as Tombstoned release via the ever reliable Svart Records the simply and aptly titled ‘II’. So, for those who were fortunate to hear their first self titled release, or maybe were even inspired to purchase it based on the review you saw here, how has time changed the band, if at all? Please, feel free to read on.
Even without listening to the music, and just looking at the digitally displayed stats (yes, most reviews these days come in electronic form, and my house is not filled with gleaming free vinyl), it is immediately obvious that despite being one track longer, ‘II’ has a running time that is ten minutes less than their prior release. Does this mean that Tombstoned have abandoned their THC inspired past for speed metal? No, but what does come across is that the band is now a tighter and more coherent entity. ‘Pretending’ to live opens in a suitably doom laden fashion, the tolling of a funereal church bell giving way to a wall of heavy riffing before front man Jussi’s Gothic vocals sweep forth, a swirling Hammond organ adding an extra dimension to this Finnish threesome’s normal mix of guitar, bass and drums. Such is the laconic melancholia of this opening track that it is easy to imagine it coming from an eighties band clad in fishnet jumpers sporting massively back combed hair rather than the leather clad rockers the band in fact are. Let’s face it, a fishnet jumper would not be practical wear for Finland’s notoriously harsh winters. ‘Brainwashed Since Birth’ follows with a harder, rockier tempo, positively sprinting past at under half the length of any of the tracks on ‘Tombstoned’, the accompanying keyboards taking on a psychedelic style that gives the track a more proto-metal sound, a sound developed in follow up ‘Time Travels’, a track that could easily have escaped from an early-Seventies underground compilation rather than been a new 2016 release.
‘And I Told You’ sees the band settling back into a more drawn out groove, the bass leading the way with a compelling head nodding beat and confident swagger that was not as readily apparent on their first album, another example of the evolution and development of the band, whilst the opening fuzzed out up tempo rock beats of ‘Haven’t We Seen This All Before’ lets Tombstoned swing their flares in a fitting tribute to classic acts that surely inform their sound, Jussi giving the wah-wah pedal plenty of welly in his solo as the rhythm section rumbles on. Closing the album is ‘Remedies’, the longest track on ‘II’, and a number where the influences of certain Messrs Iommi, Butler, and Ward can be most strongly heard, the bass heavy blast being interspersed with short, contrasting snatches of pastoral Beatlesque whimsy that give the song a unique character and stop it becoming nothing but pure Sabbath worship.
Listening to ‘II’ next to ‘Tombstoned’ it is apparent that where the band has developed most is in their song-writing discipline. In the first album, deficiencies in originality were plastered over with a coating of riffs, whereas now Tombstoned have reined themselves in, producing an album that is at the same time awash with plenty of retro fuzz, and yet also tighter and more disciplined. If this evolution and development continues, I for one will be looking forward to the next album with anticipation.
(8/10 Spenny)
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