Angels Of Destruction: Tombs Headline Complex

Review by Andrew Bansal, photos by Matt Nielson

tombs

November 17th 2016, Complex, Glendale CA: Following up their triumphant 2014 full-length ‘Savage Gold’, Brooklyn NY extreme metal band Tombs released a stellar five-song EP called ‘All Empires Fall’ in 2016, and are closing out the year with a North American headline run this November, also featuring Wolvhammer as support act. The two bands visited the Los Angeles area for a Church Of The 8th Day presented gig at Complex in Glendale. The show also included locals Wovoka and Mustard Gas And Roses, and for LA underground metal fanatics, it was a lineup too enticing to miss, even on a Thursday.

Mustard Gas And Roses, the project featuring Isis guitarist Mike Gallagher, started proceedings with a compelling, mostly instrumental 30-minute set of ambient metal. The smoothly flowing melodic yet heavy and expressive passages presented through great guitar tones created the right atmosphere for this evening and served as the ideal opening act. MGR started in the mid-2000s as Gallagher’s solo project but he got other musicians involved to perform live, and this set was played by a four-piece lineup. MGR released a new full-length called ‘Becoming’ in October 2016, the band’s first release in six years, and as evident from some of the songs played live, beautifully captures a dynamic range of flavors with its tunes. MGR opened for Pelican and Tombs at the El Rey in 2014, and reuniting with Tombs once again, they gave this show the start it deserved.

Mustard Gas And Roses
Mustard Gas And Roses

Next up, LA sludge/doom/post-hardcore group Wovoka took the stage and left no stone unturned in giving it their all for an absolutely pummeling set. The crushing heavy riffs were accompanied by monstrous growls and a rhythm section that came down with the force of a ten ton hammer, the slow pace of the tunes resulting in every note making an impact. Their 2015 debut full-length ‘Saros’ is an excellent first formal introduction of the band to worshippers of the heavy, but their live sound is decidedly heavier and certainly leaves a longlasting impression. A tremendous set that turned out to be too hard to follow for the band slated to play next.

Wovoka
Wovoka

The locals had done their bit, and it was left upto the two touring bands to deliver the goods. Wolvhammer, unfortunately, did not. This band has undoubtedly played good sets on their LA visits in the recent past, but this was most definitely not one of them, as they trudged their way through an extremely underwhelming performance that garnered zero applause from a reasonably filled Complex turnout that witnessed it firsthand. The set was bland and carried no expression or power whatsoever. It is a myth that LA crowds stand with arms folded and do not respond as much as people in other places, and this Complex crowd isn’t to blame for the lack of response to this band because it was probably fitting of what the performance deserved. Make no mistake, their studio recordings are solid and worthwhile, but unlike past LA shows, simply did not translate live on this occasion. They played less than 30 minutes and exited the stage quickly, much to their own relief more than anyone else’s.

Wolvhammer
Wolvhammer

In complete contrast, Tombs took the stage with a sense of purpose and orchestrated a powerhouse performance, the sonic annihilation combined with dark lighting and copious amounts of stage fog creating the vibe that did full justice to the band’s musical expression. The sound was dialed in perfectly, and through an uninterrupted, no-bullshit set, Tombs presented selections from the newest EP as well as older releases, causing sheer devastation on this stage and leaving nothing but loudly cheering crowd and slowly clearing fog in its wake. The song ‘Deceiver’ with its driving rhythm, skullcrushing riffs and easy to follow chorus lyrics, stood out as the singlemost memorable highlight. Tombs has been increasingly categorized under the black metal envelope and although they’re by no means exclusively so, they do have elements of the genre. The term ‘black metal’ has no many implications, visual as well as sonic, and in many cases, the imagery, look and lyrical theme only succeeds in distracting from the actual music and perhaps lessening its impact in the process. For the simple-looking, no-gimmick Tombs, it’s all about the music, and they are worthy forerunners in a rising legion of bands that are consciously or inadvertently changing the face and meaning of black metal. They impressed many first-timers when opening for Pelican at the aforementioned El Rey show two years ago, and on the relatively much smaller Complex stage, sounded even more massive. An all-conquering set from one of the most noteworthy extreme metal bands to have surfaced in the last ten years.

Overall, despite the lackluster support act, a show well worth attending for Tombs alone, and made all the more compelling by strong local talent.

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Tombs
Tombs

Tombs set list:
01. Watcher / Cold Dark Eyes
02. Obsidian
03. War God
04. V
05. Deceiver
06. Constellations
07. Bloodletters
08. Path Of Totality
09. Old Dominion / Thanatos
10. Interlude

Remaining Tour Dates:
11/22/2016 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Bar
11/25/2016 – Indianapolis, IN @ Kumas Corner
11/26/2016 – Dayton, OH @ Rockstar Pro Arena

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