Tómarúm - Ash In Realms Of Stone Icons (2LP)
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Description
Atlanta’s Tómarúm thread a tricky needle on their first full-length, Ash in Realms of Stone Icons (out May 6 via prosthetic). Their black metal is scaled to the cosmos, replete with windswept, folk-inflected passages, WITTR-sized walls of hypnotic guitar, techy fretless bass explorations, and dexterous, Opethian prog workouts. Three of the album’s five proper songs clock in beyond the 10-minute mark. Nothing feels off limits, musically.
It’s against this maximalist backdrop that guitarist, vocalist, and lyricist Kyle Walburn unburdens himself of a lifetime of mental health struggles. His often-harrowing lyrics excavate his experiences with depression, anxiety, and grief, and their intimacy doesn’t contrast with the epic scope of the music so much as it reinforces it. Walburn’s unflinching introspection is as crucial to the Tómarúm sound as the labyrinthine riffs he trades with bandmate Brandon Iacovella. If a band like Agalloch makes you think of the vastness of nature, Tómarúm makes you think of the solitary person sitting in the woods, contemplating that vastness.
“In This Empty Space” feels like an emotional rock bottom, even on an album consisting mostly of rock bottoms. It sees Walburn fantasizing about the dubious legacy he’d leave behind after committing suicide: “No mark left upon this world/My insignificance forever forgotten/No longer a fucking burden/On those close to me.” As the statement below indicates, he’s in a much better place these days — all thanks to Tómarúm. He’s also wrong about what he’ll leave behind, hopefully, many decades from now. The mark he’s left upon this world is called Ash in Realms of Stone Icons, and it’s a hell of a legacy.
“Almost five years after the first riffs were written, the day is upon us,” says Walburn. “We are beyond proud to unleash, Ash in Realms of Stone Icons, via Decibel in its entirety after thousands of hours of obsessive work. This record has been a passion project of mine since I was 19, and its creation has served as a coping mechanism during some of the most difficult times of my life. Having it complete and out into the world feels like a tremendous weight has been lifted; the ultimate catharsis after years of suffering.
Release Info
Label: Prosthetic Records PROS105501
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 2022
Genre: Rock
Style: Black Metal, Technical Death Metal, Progressive Metal
Tracklist
A1 Introspection I
A2 Condemned To A Life Of Grief
B1 In This Empty Space
B2 Introspection II
B3 Where No Warmth Is Found
C1 As Black Forms From Grey
D1 Awake Into Eternal Slumber
