Band:	Tombs
Album:	Path Of Totality
Style:	Black metal, Sludge metal
Release date:	June 2011

01. Black Hole Of Summer
02. To Cross The Land
03. Constellations
04. Bloodletters
05. Path Of Totality
06. Vermillion
07. Passageways
08. Silent World
09. Cold Dark Eyes
10. Black Heaven
11. Red Shadows
12. Angel Of Destruction

So apparently I'm our designated Tombs reviewer. This marks the third release of theirs I've reviewed in about two years. I'm cool with that. If you're gonna review stuff, might as well review good stuff.

And that's exactly what this album is., more good stuff. And a bit of "Deja Vu all over again" as Yogi Berra might say.

Path Of Totality is their second full-length release an sees the band continue the same basic sonic path they have traveled up to this point. Some sort of urban black metal fused with sludge. Not urban in the "hip-hop" sense, but urban in the sense that the concrete jungle is every bit as sinister as Scandinavian forests once the Sun sets. "Deathspell Neurosis" was the sort of inference I made on their prior album and it still holds true now.

For the most part, it's mid-paced tremolo-picked riffing combined with pounding drums that results in a sound that is slightly hypnotic, but smothering and gritty as well. Other tracks slow it down a bit, let the bass and drums develop a subtle groove while maintaining a big CRUSH factor while the guitar shoots up the next a tad and plays tension-building patterns. The vocals are also what one would expect. They are of the hoarse-shouted kind.

Ultimately this album is more of the same, with a big emphasis on more. It clocks in at nearly an hour, which is about 20 minutes more than Winter Hours lasted.

Ultimately this album is more of the same, with another big emphasis on same. There really aren't any big surprises or anything unexpected. It sounded pretty much exactly like I thought it would. It's undoubtedly enjoyable, but the added length perhaps drags on a tad unless you're using this in the background rather than as a point of undivided attention.

If you've checked out the last couple I reviewed and liked them, you'll like this. Deja Vu all over again.