8th September 2023

Review: “When The Rivers Dry” by Ethereal Tomb

Mixed by Jake Ballah (Dream Unending, Tomb Mold) and mastered by Joel Grind (Municipal Waste, Graveripper) of Toxic Holocaust fame, “When The Rivers Dry” is the work of Canadian Doom soaked Death purveyors Ethereal Tomb. It follows a self titled debut album, split EP and a cover of “Stone Magnet” by Electric Wizard out of Hell’s gate since vocalist and guitarist Alexander Senum and bassist Aidan Weatherall started working together back in 2021, taking the DIY or DIE approach of a Hardcore band and doing as much as humanly possible themselves to bring their morbid visions to life…

As an album “When The Rivers Dry” is a dark, powerful and emotive collection which explores the indigenous existence and resistance, reclamation, ecocide, love, grief and suffering from the perspective of Senum (Cree First Nation) with a distinctive anti-colonial narrative woven into it’s very soul. A sampled political speech runs alongside a melodic and yet eerie instrumental as “Face The Facts” plays out. An introduction that sets the tone before being smashed to to pieces by the feroisity of the title track, it serves its purpose well. Illustrating the intrinsic links between capitalism and colonialism, “When Rivers Run Dry” is a tale of the greed of humanity, as the oppressors sweep through the lands, taking all of value and leaving the natives to rot and die. Throat scraping vocals and raw guitar tones with a Hardcore flavour help get the message across with no uncertainty because this isn’t just a punch in the guts, but the vile venom of unrestrained fury, no longer contained with Senum’s fragile form. “Born Into Pain” is just as caustic, it’s mid-tempo chug hitting like a wrecking ball to the skull. If this was an unmixed demo them there is no doubt the guitars would drown out the kit work, but fortunately Weatherall is given time to shine as he provides the rhythmic spine. Despite the crushing riffs and perpetual agony of “Victim Mentality“, there is a trance inducing shoegazingly monolithic qualy to it as the duo create a wall of noise of seizemic levels. They gracefully transition from Doom to Beatdown for a final breakdown section on this one and it’s worth the admission price alone.

As you might expect there is no deviation from the narrative on the album with repeated references to a five hundred year reign of terror continuing into “Save The Man” which borders on incitement to riot as it builds to a raging inferno with samples. A second vocal layer adds some brutal death growls to this one before a slight upturn in tempo for “Reclamation” gives it a little more punch. Getting looser and more experimental with their riffs, this is one for the worshippers to savour as the bile of the lyrics burns the brain. Another speech sample enhanced by Acid Jazz meloncholia, “Pure Radiant Energy” is one that speaks volumes about what humanity should be doing, cutting against the grain of the violent expression of rage against the the crimes committed against each other and offering a moment of respite before the inevitable bitter end. A ten minute magnum opus isn’t one that many would have seen coming given the other cuts here but “The Sufferance Of Mourning” is monsterously sublime. Fleeting moments of lead add to the slow burn while eerie riff moments inject a haunting and almost ethereal quality to the caustic battery. Being made to atone for the sins of our fathers by bleeding out the ears might not be what Ethereal Tomb had in mind but it is exactly what they’ve achieved here [7/10]

Track Listing