Review: “Self Titled” by Tomb Slab

Born from a mutual love of anarchic, angry sludge of bands like Iron Monkey and Eyehategod, Nottingham England was the place that Tomb Slab was formed in 2024. The quartet, who comprise The Atrocity Exhibit guitarist James Caygill, The Infernal Sea vocalist Dean Lettice, Oneiros bassist John Hunter and Shrykull drummer Kez Whelan had ideas above their station, trading words, thoughts and riffs until demos began to take shape. Eventually at some point in 2025 they entered Stuck On A Name Studios with Ian Boult (Mage, Abduction, Shrykull) who recorded, mixed and mastered their debut self titled album. Artwork was created by Amy Edwards (The Atrocity Exhibit) before a deal was inked in blood with Road To Masochist and the rest they say is history…

Laced with feedback “Kingdom of Tyranny” crawls out from under with classic Sludge Metal riffs, the southern twang of Corrosion Of Conformity and Down escaping the amplifiers into a smoke filled room. It’s only then that the dragon rears it’s ugly head, the scorching flames emanating from the throat of Lettice as caustic as they come. His vocals are like nails on a chalkboard, the kind of dry raspy noise that you might usually associate with Black Metal and yet, the perfect vessel to deliver the venomous tirade held within the lyric sheet. Sonically the track has plenty of mid-tempo Doom fuelled a riffs, the depth and darkness of the atmosphere added to by thunderous percussion and rumbling bass.

Hunter’s churn and burn bass line introduces “The Butcher” through another wave of feedback, the raw energy and dirty grooves tapping into primal instincts once thought to be long forgotten. A mid cut slow down is a work of downtempo art, the down-tuned debauchery reaching a whole new low with the vocals scratching at the cerebral cortex like the fickle finger of fate. Will you react by raising a poison chalice to salute the soothsayers or partake in a random act of violence in search of catharsis?

Hypnotic earworm riffs soak “Rawhead”  to the bone, taking a leaf from the Orange Goblin playbook, the introduction offering fleeting respite from the savage vocals which are as fiery and fierce on this one as they come. A curiously timeless offering that walks the line between Doom and Sludge Metal, if it had clean vocals it might have early Black Sabbath listed as one of its inspirations. Boult deserves a lot of credit for maintaining the bands a raw and primitive sound, deliberately not doing too much to polish what the band have created.

The guitars circle like vultures on “What’s Below Remains Below” as Caygill pays homage to riff lords of decades gone by while demonstrating his own prowess, the fretboard left smouldering by his calloused hands. An almighty cut fit for worship, it’s a demonstration of power that will no doubt elevate the band to cult status in the not too distant future, the sounds they create the perfect accompaniment for occult rituals.

As if to prove the point “Tomb of Flesh” has a bit of everything that came before it while feeling like the glass eye that stares at you from the bottom of a pint glass. It might be nasty, dirty and abrasive but somehow, like watching a low budget horror movie on VHS, listening to this hellish monster makes you feel more alive. You can just imagine Raging Speedhorn loving every second of “Toils of the Unclean Spirit” with its wandering bass line funk and feedback laced grooves, the bitter bleak lyrical narrative enough to make you see the grim reaper in the window, armed with a baseball bat wrapped in rusted barbed wire. Prepare yourself, a savage beating is about to take place… [7/10]

Track Listing

1. Kingdom of Tyranny
2. The Butcher
3. Rawhead
4. What’s Below Remains Below
5. Tomb of Flesh
6. Toils of the Unclean Spirit

“Self Titled” by Tomb Slab is out 17th July 2026 via Road To Masochist