Tombstoned: Tombstoned (2013)

Daze of Disintegration

Review by joanismylover, the third metal attorney.

Sibling rivalry is both a positive and a negative force in the life of a child, with effects that last a lifetime. Tombstoned have nothing to do with such rivalries but I'm reminded of my own as I write this review. When I was a junior in high school my aunt inspected the lyrics and artwork of Appetite for Destruction and the next thing I know I was throwing it away and self-checking my library for anything similarly amoral and unfit for the joanismylover's parents' household. Stupidly, I actually threw out Megadeth's Peace Sells because of the lyrics to "The Conjuring." Yet my sister didn't have to throw out anything, and she listened to some pretty depressive, self-loathing stuff. The Cure.

Tombstoned play stoner rock/metal and stand out in the crowded genre because of two things: the singer is a dead ringer for Robert Smith and the songs have psychedelic stomp. Unlike many a release in the stoner category, whose vocalists tend to be either non-existent or merely mumbling, the vocals on this self-titled full length stick in your brain. That's probably going to be true even if you are not pushing 40 and had a little sister that moped around to "Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me"*. The mopy and almost whining croon of the lead singer floats over and in between the music, giving a different dimension to most of this kind of (killer) music.


And the music here is un-squarely space-heavy Monster Magnet meets Earthless jams, but with bounce. Hear the opener, "Through Days". The songs meander and mist away into the atmosphere but doom along with the heft of Sabbathian riffs - see "Daze of Disintegration". The interspersed guitar jam work is great and to their credit the band does not just keep playing as do Earthless. The songs have reasonable length and conclude in a cohesive fashion. You'll be nodding your head and singing out to "Rat Race", as that song shakes and rattles. It's not until "Faded" that things get a little stale and inconclusive. But the first four jam-songs are all really good and make it worth a purchase.

Maybe I'll recommend it to my sister.

3.5 out of 5 stars.



*It's actually a fantastic album, as its successor, Disintegration. But you already know that, right?