UK blackened sludge metal band Tomb Slab signs with Road To Masochist; new single »What’s Below, Remains Below« streaming now!
Nottingham, UK based blackened sludge metal band Tomb Slab has signed with Road To Masochist for the release of their self-titled debut album, which will see the light on July 17th, 2026.
You can now listen to the first single »What’s Below, Remains Below« on all streaming services!
Tracklist:
01. Kingdom Of Tyranny
02. The Butcher
03. Rawhead
04. What’s Below, Remains Below
05. Tomb Of Flesh
06. Toils Of The Unclean Spirit
Courtesy of Imperative PR:
The first foundation stones for what would become the brutal architecture of Tomb Slab were laid back in 2024. The Atrocity Exhibit guitarist James Caygill and The Infernal Sea vocalist Dean Lettice discovered their mutual admiration for the anarchic, angry sludge of bands like Iron Monkey and EyeHateGod – and slowly words and thoughts became riffs and lyrics, which then became early, rough demos. While other commitments soon intervened, the pair were determined to return to the sleeping behemoth they had christened Tomb Slab and in 2025 they did just that; now accompanied by Oneiros bassist John Hunter and Shrykull drummer Kez Whelan. The beast was awake – and those early demos began the process of transformation into a self-titled debut album of soul crushing doom and sludge. With Road To Masochist, champions of the malign and malformed creatures of the UK underground on board, »Tomb Slab« the album is now ready to leave its nest of ash and bone and crawl out into the light…
Opening track »Kingdom Of Tyranny« emerges from a wailing wall of feedback with a grim, purposeful air. The thudding drumbeats land with colossal power while the vocals are vicious to the point of self-destruction; you can almost feel the mucous membrane in Lettice’s throat tearing with every venomous, bilious utterance. The song pauses momentarily at its midpoint simply to bathe in the radioactive hum of the guitars before a well-placed death grunt kicks it back into action. »The Butcher« follows, riding a dirty, attitude infused groove, the drumbeats still falling like hammer blows and you start to feel like there are only two ways to respond to Tomb Slab – you either commit to violence and wanton destruction or you enter a catatonic state, consciousness lost to the implacable riffs. With an intro that’ll bring a smile to all but the most po-faced of listeners, »Rawhead« is part lively, obnoxious celebration and part grinding, hypnotic riff-poisoning, while the circling guitars of first single »What’s Below, Remains Below« demand a headbanging response and won’t be satisfied until something inside breaks.
Photo by Maisie Cooper
»Tomb Of Flesh« then grows organically from the wreckage of »What’s Below, Remains Below«, a darker, grimier thing, with a nasty glint in its eye, dragging itself forward with malicious intent until it collapses, dying in feedback screams that slowly become the gargantuan »Toils Of The Unclean Spirit«. There’s a bleak resignation about this Godzilla like conclusion to the album, a life sapping ennui that sucks the energy from the song like marrow from a bone. It slows at its heart, almost drowning in its own bitter lethargy, just managing to pull clear from the quicksand long enough for a wandering bass line to inject enough vigour to get it moving again, staggering away into the screaming void from whence it came.
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Ian Boult (Mage, Abduction, Shrykull) at Stuck On A Name Studios in Nottingham, Tomb Slab’s sonic palette is part rusted razor wire, part rubble and decay, but there’s a sparse clarity to it that allows every element of its brutal, broken choir to sing. Featuring the striking artwork of Amy Edwards (The Atrocity Exhibit), Tomb Slab will be driven from its place of confinement by Road To Masochist on July 17th and will be available on transparent yellow and black vinyl variants and CD.
Recorded and mixed by Ian Boult at Stuck On A Name Studios.
Mastered at Mouth Of Hell, Northampton.
Cover illustration by Amy Edwards.
Logo by Misanthropic Art.
Tomb Slab is:
Dean Lettice – Vocals
James Caygill – Guitar
John Hunter – Bass
Kez Whelan – Drums
FFO: EyeHateGod | Acid Bath | Iron Monkey | Grief
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well