After the break-up of New York technical metal hardcore heroes Anodyne, the rhythm section went on to churn out excellent 7″ after 7″ as shitfit grinders Defeatist, whilst Mike Hill explored pastures new. The short-lived Versoma and Sino Basila projects showed a willingness to experiment within the confines of hardcore, stretching tendrils outside of the usual hardcore attack. Tombs is the logical culmination of this time spent exploring, with epic My Bloody Valentine-esque layered psychedelia welded to sheet-metal Swans emotive intensity, somehow rocking very hard whilst maintaining an ethereal beauty.
German touring buddies Planks showed a dark His Hero Is Gone meets Eyehategod tendency on their self-titled LP, and this continues on from there basically. Their approach is pretty shallow compared to what Tombs are up to, but it’s still satisfyingly depressing and nasty.
The artwork fittingly depicts an exposed heart, and comes screened with a minimal number of colours but with plenty of detail.