By the time February comes around and the new Tombs EP «Monarchy of Shadows» is released, it will have been over two and a half years since «The Grand Annihilation», the band’s sole release on Metal Blade. Since that last full-length, not only did Tombs switch over to Season of Mist, but the entire formation, outside of founding member Mike Hill, has changed with the entries of Justin Spaeth (drums), Drew Murphy (bass), and Matt Medeiros (guitars), who comprise three quarters of New Jersey based death metal outfit Kalopsia. Regarding the new formation, Hill stated that he’s “playing with excellent players who are on the same creative page and have introduced elements that weren’t obvious to me which ended up expanding the band’s sound. I feel like the music and this incarnation of the band is a lot more powerful because here’s a personal investment from all the members,” adding about the new label that “we have a label behind us that understands what we’re about aesthetically and is used to working with bands like ours,” before summarising his thoughts on the upcoming release, stating that “there’s a new, more thoughtful and collaborative approach to song writing and I feel that this EP is the strongest record of the band’s history.” Strong words, whose accuracy we can start to confirm by listening to the EP’s self-titled opening salvo below.
The single also features synths by guest musician Terence Hannum, of Locrian fame. Two other guests are set to be featured on the EP, namely, Mike Gonçalves on vocals in «Path of Totality (Midnight Sun)» and Ben Karas on strings in «The Dark Rift».
«Monarch of Shadows» is set for release by Season of Mist on February 28 on cd, digital, and vinyl formats. Pre-orders are available at this location. It was recorded at Frightbox Recording by Bobby Torres, who also handled production, sound engineering, and mixing, while mastering duties befell Alan Douches of West West Side Music.
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