It’s not often that we premiere more than one advance track from an impending album release, much less three of them. But in the case of Tomb of Finland‘s new album Across The Barren Fields we’ve been offered the chance to do three, and have eagerly accepted the opportunity.
In the case of the first two songs we’ve presented, they were first released as stand-alone singles, and that’s true of the song we’re presenting today — “Coffin Bound“. It will be available as a digital single beginning on August 5th. But we’re also now getting much closer to the August 19th release of the album by UPRISING! Records in a variety of physical formats, and thus this latest single serves as a reminder of that.
Like the first two songs we premiered from the album, this newest one is an arresting experience on many levels. It’s further evidence of Tomb of Finland‘s songwriting skill — their ability to create mood-changing and memorable melodies — and of their ability to shake you like a rag doll in the grasp of a behemoth.
As this new song unfolds, a mood of mourning immediately begins to seep into the soul through an amalgam of piercing mournful strings (a reminder that indeed, we are all coffin-bound), but the band then strike with a booming, jolting groove, the kind that’s so potent it will produce reflexive muscle movement. It’s a mighty hook, and a brutal one, and the viciousness of the attack is underscored by Olli Suvanto‘s harsh snarls and screams.
The sorrow in the song persists, through wailing guitar melodies that swirl above the humongous heaviness of the skull-smacking, spine-shaking, low-end drive and those wrenching vocal assaults. Those glittering lead-guitar melodies have sharp hooks as well, burrowing in just as effectively as the convulsive grooves.
Altogether, the song also manages to create an atmosphere of tragic grandeur as the melodies soar and majestic chords loom behind them. But you’d better get your necks loose, because (to repeat) this track will get your head pumping like a piston.
We also want to remind you of the first two singles we premiered.
The first of those, “Wretched Bliss“, was presented through a beautifully made video that takes the viewer on a journey of mystery, menace, magic, and madness. We follow the actions of a lone shirtless man who appears to be engaged in a ritual of incantations and blood, a ritual that spawns hallucinatory visions and the presence of a hooded figure who may not be of this world.
The man seems to spasm like a puppet on a string. He burns from the inside out, and perhaps what burns is his soul — as it is removed and encased in a different vessel, leaving his body a lifeless husk. Does he experience a wretched kind of bliss during the course of this experience, as the song title implies? You can be the judge of that.
Certainly, the song is a powerfully captivating one, heavy as hell and hard-hitting but also emotionally evocative and memorable. It’s a bit of a slow burn, led by an opening guitar lead that moans and wails above crushing chords and an earth-shaking rhythm that staggers and then rumbles. A jolting pulse develops as the crackle of savage vocals rear their hostile head, and a feeling of excitement comes through in the music as it rises in the chorus.
The lead guitar slithers through the song’s growing tumult like a serpent seeking prey, and abyssal vocals ring out in imperious tones, echoing the main line of those vicious snarls. An interlude follows, in which the music slows and creates a space for the beginning of a sorcerous guitar solo that then leads the song back into a reprise of the track’s most earth-heaving and soul-stirring moments of spectacle.
Our second song premiere was for “Shadows of the North“, and it too was presented through a video, but this time one that featured the band. In that song a fever burns in the darting riffage despite its dark and ominous name. The music takes flight as the guitars soar like flames in the wind, though the mood even then is no less tormented. The delirium subsides and the music becomes both more forlorn and more mesmerizing — an unfolding of melancholy that quickly takes root in the mind.
But the fires ignite again, fueled by a gripping riff and a fret-melter of a solo, followed by a reprise of the hook-laden earlier riff that gave wings to the song’s opening burst of intensity. Throughout, the rhythm section again pack the track with heavy-weight punch, and the vocals are relentlessly savage.
Below you’ll find a link for pre-saving and pre-adding the latest single, as well as pre-order links for the album, which UPRISING! Records will present in a variety of formats: digital, CD, and LP vinyl (transparent orange/black, limited to 300 units). They recommend it for fans of Swallow The Sun, Kuolemanlaakso, and Barren Earth.
PRE-ORDER THE ALBUM:
https://targetshop.dk/vare/tomb-of-finland-across-the-barren-fields-cd
https://targetshop.dk/vare/tomb-of-finland-across-the-barren-fields-lp
https://targetgroup.bandcamp.com/album/across-the-barren-fields
PRE-SAVE/PRE-ADD THE NEW SINGLE:
https://orcd.co/tomb-coff
FOLLOW TOMB OF FINLAND:
https://www.tomboffinland.fi/
https://www.facebook.com/TombOfFinland
https://www.instagram.com/tomb_of_finland/
