Brooklyn is experiencing quite the revival when it comes to heavy music. Or maybe it’s just that people outside of NYC are taking notice again. Hardcore and metal have always thrived in The Rotten Apple in the face of trends, with bands like Batillus and So Hideous My Love receiving a lot of attention of late. On all the up and comers, Tombs are definitely one of the biggest Brooklyn success stories. Since their inception in 2007, their EP on singer/guitarist Mike Hill’s Black Box Recording has sold out a couple of pressings and last year’s split 12” with German metal merchants Planks continues to sell briskly, especially on the heels of their tour with Isis and Pelican.
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Metal fans have always gotten a bad rap from the populace at large. An easy target for pretentious new-school douchebags smugly snickering their way through Heavy Metal Parking Lot, the genre maintains the same quotient of sub-literate bozos as any other, but with a refreshing lack of pretension (for the most part). The corpse-paint set are pretty silly, but talk to the average adult metal fan who’s favorite artist isn’t Pantera or isn’t Cradle Of Filth and you’ll find them to be an educated, well-mannered lot. It’s the new-school of contemporary metal vocals that may well be the main stumbling block for the average punter. The at best barked/at worst unintelligible vocals that typify the genre tend to obfuscate any intelligent commentary you’d find therein.
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