Review
Forgotten Tomb
...and Don't Deliver Us from Evil

The Italian boys of Forgotten Tomb are certainly not new kids to the black metal scene. The band, going strong since the turn of the century, has made a name by building its own little corner in the depressive black metal genre. With each record the band allows their emotions to show through a bit more and, in turn, it seems to allow more room for traditional melody lines. They have returned with their most recent release after probably one of the shorter breaks between full-lengths (nearly 6 months), managing to release both a split and an EP in that period. 

The band plays with melodic structures within each song, starting off true to form. The opener "Nullifying Tomorrow" starts all blast beats and screaming before making way for a melodic lead that eventually takes over a good portion of the song. This manages to give way to a calm acoustic part before going back into the song. The track contains more than a few parts that all musically seem to link to an idea of being more of a normal rock band while the vocals remain evil as usual. At some points throughout the album this idea rears its head and can feel at once great but at times like a horrible misstep. 

The production is clean and clear without a speck of dust on it, which does quite a bit to speak of how seriously the band take their musicianship as opposed to worrying about kvlt appeal. For a band of their style it would be wasted effort for them to cloud their music in an extra layer of lo-fidelity grime. Each guitar line can be heard separately and with great clarity which makes for a pleasant listen when then tempos shift while an acoustic piece remains lingering behind. 

While the band overall have managed to set upon their path and make their name, I remain torn. While the band is quite adept at playing each style, there remain points in their songs where they don't seem entirely certain which way it is going. Sometimes the band allows momentary reflection or calm but never lingers on it long enough to truly let it build , rather they tear it away quickly so as not scare any of the grimness away. So in the end we get an above average band playing some songs that are great and then some parts of songs that are great while inserting parts that are just ok. Simply put this album is ok.