Toughness - The Prophetic Dawn (Godz ov War)
Polish young
‘uns Toughness are the latest band to undertake the tricky balancing act that
is the old-school death metal (OSDM) sound. Do they avoid clonedom and provide
a unique vision, without losing the tumultuous sound of their predecessors?
From the opener’s
teetering prelude, production and timbre are a delight. A roiling electric
storm is conjured between two guitars, drums tumbling like a rockfall. Bass strings
are hurled around, thick and loose as buffeted telegraph cables. Phlegm-smattered
vocals nod to Demilich’s glorious insanity, but unlike many modern Findeath
acolytes, Toughness are grounded thoroughly in the brimstone-baked ass-kicking
of Immolation. Their absurdist streak emerges vividly in moments like the
split-second acoustic ejaculation in “Other Insalubrious Beings”, but exists
mainly as fuel for deranged yet brutal instrumental performances. The bass, reminiscent
of fellow OSDM innovators Faceless Burial, injects itself into the space
where the guitar uses its weight for more atmospheric purposes. The solos are
the band’s most devious feature; not face-ripping bolts of lightning, but instead
the eerie eye of the storm. “The Infernal Travellings”’ stop-start hurricane
leads into jazzy, Cynical noodling, underpinned by a squall more typical
of Morbid Angel, while the lumbering chugs of “Forsaken Entity” bear
witness to a twisted spasm — each of these a canny subversion that cleverly balances
character with brutality.
As closer “Psychological” begins once more, its stoned, Sabbathian
opening riff evolving in real time towards death metal mayhem, one can only
wonder what the future holds for these maniacal upstarts.