Have you ever experience the meaning of sluggish in Metal music? Have you ever experience the true denotation of filth in music? Have you ever came across a band like TOMBSTONES from Norway? Well I have. At first it sounded to me like a really odd and muddy version of early 70s BLACK SABBATH but an extra dose of slithering fuzz all over the place. "Year Of The Burial" is the third album of this trio lads signed to Soulseller Records. I must admit that with all my admiration for Doom doped with Stoner type of Metal, this "Year Of The Burial" really buried me and I don't mean it in a positive way. I have to problems with grubby stuff, but what went along on this release was truly hard for me to bear.

Though Doom Metal, especially the traditional kind, has a knack for standstills and it came be refined into an interesting piece of music. However, something like paying attention to details, which I think that this release lacks in quantities, is heavily crucial. TOMBSTONES demonstrated a non-healthy monotonic state of mind, especially the riffing, through their six tracks, which most were longer ones beyond the five minutes length. There were moments where I just couldn't handle the poor production that merely killed their creations, aside from those being rather deprived on their own. It was really hard to enjoy a musical proceeding that is static and unmoving.

As I mentioned earlier, Doom Metal, whether with or without Stoner features, can take a sweet ride into different consciousnesses, yet on this album "Year Of The Burial", it was like digging your own grave and smiling about it widely. "Quintessential" was probably the only song that really meant something. It has such a BLACK SABBATH oriented riffing on the first phase right before taking a turn into a strong vocal section and a hazy groovy riffing. However, it pretty much continued on the same manner nearly most of the way. I don't know if this trio actually heard itself, or its production, but I think that they should attempt a few reforms.

Unfortunately, TOMBSTONES's "Year Of The Burial" didn't do anything to me. Usually there is a surge of feelings that can be set free from releases of this kind, yet here it was cold as ice or blocked as a stone. For one thing, these guys did feel heavily doped but not on trying to let loose into the mind of the listener as both production and material never really gave it a chance. Let's see what happens next...