Recently, the neoclassical style artwork has become more and more popular. The downside of this otherwise pretty neutral trend is that looking at a cover of classicist old greek people cowering in fear doesn’t tell me anything about the music anymore. From the cover I would have suspected something more menacing and that probably takes itself a little more seriously. Tombstalker‘s main mode seems to be light enjoyment and, for lack of a better word, fun. The band plays oldschool death metal, mixed up with Swedish style crust punk and the surprisingly melodic approach that comes with it, and is somewhat enjoyable for what it is. The melodic lead guitar is apparently a new addition, but it fits the style the band has chosen very well and I couldn’t imagine how the band would sound would it be missing.
Generally, I think that if a band goes simpler and more approachable at the same time, they need to be masters at their songcraft and present me with some material that makes me get over my grumpy disposition and my need for musical misanthropy. I can’t say Tombstalker quite managed the task. As simple as the songs are, they all go a little long and are all damn linear. None of them manage to be particularly catchy and I think the vocal performance, rather squarely rooted in oldschool death and sometimes black metal tropes, could use some more anthemic or pseudo-melodic growling to make the material more memorable. Better phrasing would also go a long way here. The length combined with the decision to eschew a more song-driven structure makes the EP sit awkwardly between the two things it could be. Age of Darkness is not a shreddy kind of melodic, not in need of any epic song structures, and would probably play better if it was more straightforward and have songs that curve out at 3 minutes. As it stands the only song on the album that does is an acoustic interlude – which the EP likely shouldn’t have.
