TOMBS - 'Savage Gold'

It is no longer hyperbolic to say Tombs have gotten better with every album. They have a legitimate streak going, with every release redefining the band's sound. Just as Winterhours was their metalgaze pinnacle and Path of Totality their sludgiest sludge sludge, Savage Gold marks another new direction; this is Tombs at their most post-black metal. Savage Gold is a decimating work, at turns brutal and droning. It is, simply, the best Tombs record so far.

Given how much black metal aims for grainy, indecipherable dissonance, it's remarkable that Savage Gold is the cleanest-sounding Tombs record to date. Winterhours was perfectly titled, as its production favored a hazy vibe. But every movement on Gold comes through pristine, no matter how much frontman Mike Hill shreds his vocal cords.

There are plenty of blast beats to be had, especially on the propulsive, can't-believe-it's-seven-minutes-long "Portraits," but Tombs have always been a band of contrasts. For every rising action like "Séance," there's a falling action like the whispering "Deathtripper," a bass-heavy, post-punkish tune that verges on goth. Songs like that allow the listener to breath, and make the heavy hitters that much more intense.

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