REVIEW: Throne of Grief - an auditory nightmare with Tumanduumband

The Cursed Monk Bandcamp page lists Throne of Grief as 'pants shittingly heavy doom'. It seems to me that you get hundreds of albums every year that are described as being heavy enough to cause bowel movements, which wouldn't even cause a minor skidmark in reality. Throne of Grief is certainly a rare exception. Bring a spare pair.

Introductory track Crushed Under Unfathomable Misery begins deceptively softly before leading into live staple Throne of Grief, characterised by a vicious bass tone and squealing feedback. The excellently-titled Black Ritual of the 25th Moon follows with an ominous, menacing atmosphere, another live favourite by now. Its dark bass effects give a touch of psychedelia, which really underlines the release and stops the record from veering off and sounding one-dimensional. There's a recurring horror theme to the record, that Tumanduumband's use of Satanic, ritualistic sound bites brings across well. It's an incredibly nightmarish listen overall.

Each Birth, A New Disaster is hardly upbeat, but does use a faster rhythm to complement the sludgy Electric Wizard-style riffing nicely. When Tumanduumband drop the tempo, it's stomach-churningly effective. Landscape of Fear has a repeating chug that rings as cold as ice, through Scott's low bass tuning and grim use of effects. The album's longest song, it really hammers in the evil, foreboding sense of atmosphere throughout. Colder than Death closes the record with Tumanduumband at their doomiest (duumiest?). Its simple riff and beat encapsulate a lot about Tumanduumband musically, though the use of psychedelia and layers of noise really turn it into a spine-chilling finale. The production really makes the song... but more on that in a moment.

Tumanduumband - Black Ritual of the 25th Moon (live May 2021) - first time performed live


There are also re-recordings of Bizarre Tomb and Dread Lord from the two 2019 EPs. Dread Lord was remastered again a couple of years ago from the original, so it's interesting to hear this third version of the song under the unique production stamp on this album. It's an incredibly claustrophobic, suffocating style of mastering from Zeg. Intentionally hard to listen to and inaccessible, it leaves as big an impression on the listener as the sheer weight of the riffs and rhythms behind it. If you're open to how the power of The Riff can be harnessed in new, disgusting ways, then give Throne of Grief a go.

Tumanduumband - Throne of Grief (live Sep 2022)

It really feels like Tumanduumband have unlocked a vital piece of the puzzle with Zeg's production that sees them sounding filthier, sludgier and more evil than ever - more so than most bands would dare to go for. A lot about Tumanduumband's identity, due to the fairly minimalist approach to songwriting, has to do with their horror-inspired, Satanic aesthetic. This can be seen onstage, but Throne of Grief really seems to have really finessed that into the auditory experience, rather than just the visual one. Not to take away from Scott's riffs or Luke's powerful drumming, of course - but Zeg and his outstanding production really feels like the hidden third member over Throne of Grief.

Frightening, monstrous, and excellent.

9/10


Tumanduumband Facebook | Instagram | Spotify | Bandcamp

Out on 27th October 2023 via Cursed Monk Records

Drowning in Fathomless Despair - Review 

MN

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