What's in a name? WithTombstoned, EVERYTHING. These Finnish funereal directors of rocking doom made a big splash with their self-titled debut album, released in 2013 bySvart Records, which garnered them a spot at Roadburn that year - curated by huge fan / Electric Wizard mainman Jus Oborn, no less - and reaped critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. And now, onApril 22nd,Tombstonedreturn to better that debut withII, set to be released again bySvarton CD, LP, and digital formats.
IfTombstonedwas the brash opening statement, thenIIis the more focused consolidation of strengths. By the band's own admission,Tombstoned's opening salvo crammed nearly every influence they possessed into every song, making for a wild, jam-oriented spin. Here onII, with the band members now living in different countries, the process was more composed, resulting in tight, earth-shaking songs of molten, magnanimousmolten might. Still within the boundaries of stoner doom,Tombstonedsought withIIto take a more personal approach and express the harsh times they've been living recently, resulting in a lumbering celebration of slow-motion darkness. Additionally, the vocals have strayed from the usual Sabbath-inspired drawl to one of a gloomier post-punk aspect, furthering the band's agenda to expand upon the stoner doom subgenre.
With a pallet like this, capturing the mood is of the utmost importance. And yet, when it came time to mix II, the studio engineer askedTombstonedfor reference records and nobody could think of any. Nevertheless, the band went with a simple, totally analog approach to production, capturing everything on vintage outboard gear and recording on reel tape. The result is a record equally warm asTombstoned, but inducing bigger and deeper goosebumps. Dark times call for dark music, andTombstonedhave survived the grave to deliverII. Hear the first evidence of their survivalHEREwith the track "And I Told You."Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
"II" Track Listing:
1. Pretending to Live
2. Brainwashed Since Birth
3. Time Travels
4. And I Told You
5. Haven't We Seen All This Before
6. You Can Always Close Your Eyes
7. Remedies
