30th May 2022

Review: “Vile Retribution” by Iron Tomb

Cross pollination has been growing increasingly commonplace in recent times with new Metal sub-genres being coined on what seems like a daily basis and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. When it comes to making music, we want to hear something that sounds interesting and if sticking to genre stereotypes doesn’t enable the creative juices to flow then why not blur the lines? As long as it sounds good and feels right then why hold back? In the case of Birmingham’s Iron Tomb, who draw inspiration from a combination of old school local heroes along with the trailblazers of the 90’s Florida scene, they’ve chosen to incorporate lyrical themes usually associated with Power Metal into a World of Death Metal music…

Recorded, Mixed and Mastered by Owen Davies at Loud Noises Productions and paired with artwork by Ardha Lepa, the fabric of “Vile Retribution” is knitted together by a narrative of swords and sorcery which explore the battles of an evil fantasy world as it burns to the ground. Now, before you get to thinking that means high pitched clean sung vocals over Death Metal riffs, Iron Tomb’s vocalist brings the throat splitting uncleans from the very start of “Pagan Rule” and what the band sound like is Deicide with the lyric sheet of DragonForce. Rest assured that while on paper that sounds like it could be a train wreck waiting to happen, in practice it sounds incredible. Each of these Old School Florida style Death Metal cuts is a howitzer of rhythmic pummelling with a few choice whammy bar moments thrown in for good measure that gets you headbanging from the very start. One of the stand out cuts is “Death Immortal” which has stunningly good fretboard smoking hot solo while the band play with tempos and drop things down during the final onslaught to great effect. But in truth the title track isn’t too far behind as the band repeat the process with plenty of blasting as they bring out every crushing rhythm in their arsenal and another classic solo. A polished debut EP with some real bite to it, this is one to savour [7.5/10]

Track Listing