Interview with Luigi & Luca of Tombal

Tombal is an Italian old-school death metal band with Swedish death metal style characterized by a consistent HM-2 chainsaw-driven guitar tone (Heavily inspired by the HM-2's fierce and sharpness) Tombal is more reminiscent to the Swedish style for some fans Tombal is the Italian Dismemeber or Bloodbath

 Released on June 12, 2026, "Grave of the Damned" is the debut EP that carves the way for a relentless aggression and ferocity forged in death, rot and decay, The EP was released by Blood Harvest Records, while Unholy Domains handles the cassette edition.

1-First of all, thank you for taking part in this interview and congratulation for your new EP Grave of the Damned, I just wanted to ask a bit about the origins of the band (introduce Tombal to the readers), since 2025. How was the songwriting process divided across the course of all these years, was it spread out or product of a very short time frame when time allowed it?

Luigi: Hi! First of all, thank you very much for inviting us to this interview. Tombal was born in August 2025 from an idea I had been carrying with me for a long time: to form a pure old-school Swedish death metal band, as I've always been passionate about that sound, especially the HM-2 tone. So I contacted Luca, an incredibly talented drummer, and Massimiliano on bass to form the band. After letting them hear what I had in mind, they both accepted immediately, and that's how Tombal was born. I wrote our first single, Grave of the Damned, which was released shortly afterwards on YouTube. After that, I composed all the remaining songs for the EP. Luca recorded the drums in Basilicata, while Massimiliano and I completed the rest of the recordings here in Sardinia. All of this happened in roughly six months. In the meantime, I also contacted Mario, our second guitarist, and he joined Tombal without hesitation. We're already working on our first full-length album and we'll be back in the studio very soon.

2-What can you tell us about your line up, and will you introduce other members?

Luca: Tombal consists of Luigi Cara on guitar and vocals, Massimiliano Falchi on bass, Mario Tamponi on guitar, and myself, Luca Barone, on drums. No, we have no plans to add any new members, as the band is now complete. Besides being musicians united by our passion for extreme metal, we're also a close group of friends.

3- What do you think of the worldwide metal and extreme scene today, are you against modern metal styles who invaded the old school metal scene? 

Luigi: To be honest, we always prefer the old-school approach, not only in death metal but in heavy metal in general, because we believe it's the truest and most natural sound you can hear, not only in terms of production but also in attitude and the way the music is played. At the same time, I also listen to newer bands, not really modern metal, but modern death metal, and there are so many bands absolutely crushing it, especially here in Italy

4- What’s your mainly inspiration to compose and How do you write your music? Is there a set guideline or do you write what you feel as you go along?

Luca: Every member of the band brings their own influences, of course. We're definitely inspired by bands like Dismember, Interment, Grave and Entombed. However, that's never a limitation for us as we don't copy anyone and we don't follow any strict guideline. We always try to follow our own natural path, both in songwriting and in finding the sound we want to achieve

5- You released a single Grave of the Damned on the 22nd of January, 2026 from your new E.P Grave of the Damned via Blood Harvest Records so can you tell us about the inspiration behind the album concept and influences?

Luigi: As I said before, the Italian scene is in great shape. It's full of death metal bands that absolutely crush, including bands that have become really successful, like Fulci. But even the darker, more underground side of death metal is full of incredibly strong bands. The same goes for Sardinia: there are many great bands here, especially black metal bands, including some that are deeply connected to Sardinian traditions. There aren't as many death metal bands, but the ones we do have are all excellent.

Luca: Everything started with the release of our self-titled single. From the very beginning, we wanted to write direct, uncompromising songs with a strong impact, creating a violent yet natural, slightly raw sound that allowed us to achieve exactly what we were looking for. From that single, we built the rest of the EP by following the same natural direction and keeping the same intensity we wanted to express. Although it's not a concept release, the lyrics are connected by a common thread revolving around death, destruction, rot and decay. As I mentioned before, our influences remain the same, but they never limit our songwriting. We simply follow what feels most natural to us.

6-Are you satisfy with your label and witch label fit to your music?

Luigi: Yes, we're very satisfied with the work both Blood Harvest and Unholy Domain have done. Everything has been going really well with our labels so far, and we're already working on the full-length, even though several other labels have also contacted us showing a strong interest in Tombal. 

7-What about themes in the lyrics?

Luca: As I mentioned before, the main themes we deal with are death, decay and rot. They perfectly reflect the concept behind the name Tombal.

8- About the album artwork, did you do the cover for " Grave of the Damned " yourself ?

Luigi: The artwork was created by Valeria Foddanu, a very talented tattoo artist from Sardinia. She perfectly captured everything we had in mind and brought it to life flawlessly.

9-How would you describe your style of music?

Luca: It's definitely old-school death metal, Swedish death metal forged through aggression, violence and a completely uncompromising approach, combined with a raw and powerful sound.

10- What are some of your non-musical influences?

Luigi: Outside of music, my biggest influence comes from old-school horror movies. I also draw inspiration from them when writing some of the lyrics.

11-Did you send your record to some promo and webzines?

Luca: Yes. For the most part, our label handled the promotion through magazines and zines.

12-Any fav bands to get on stage with? ,any future gigs or fest  ?

Luigi: We'd love to share the stage with bands that have a great attitude and, above all, with good people we can spend great moments with. We already have confirmed shows and festival appearances, and we're currently working on a European tour that will support the release of our first full-length album alongside a great Italian death metal band.

13-Do you have any references or influences from horror/ gore, slasher movies, or Italian *Giallo*? I’m a huge fan……Italy really excels at this kind of cinema, like the movies of Fulci?

Luca: As Luigi mentioned earlier, films, especially horror films, are a major source of inspiration for our lyrics. To name a few, we love The Exorcist (the original one), Evil Dead, and Splatters-Gli Schizzacervelli. 

14- Do you already have things in the plans after the release of Grave of the Damned any album? Touring? or Split Ep's in the horizon?

Luigi: Yes, Luca is about to enter the studio to record the drum tracks, and I think by October the album will already be ready for pressing. Right after that, we'll begin a strong promotional campaign with live shows, tours and festivals, all managed by our booking agency, Occult Booking. We're really in great shape at the moment.

15- What is the biggest change compared to the debut before before releasing your first EP?

Luca: Compared to our debut EP, the full-length definitely features more structured songs. We've introduced more tempo changes that we enjoy experimenting with, and in a couple of tracks we've incorporated the classic Swedish d-beat. However, the impact and aggression will continue exactly where Grave of the Damned left off.

16- To conclude, if you have any closing thoughts you want to say about the record the next of Tombal, band or old school death metal at large

Luigi: I'd like to thank you for the interview, and all our fans and friends for the incredible support they've shown us from the very beginning. We can't wait to play live and for you to hear what we have in store with the release of our first full-length album.

Death Metal Is Alive!

 

Acolythus - Unearthly Kingdoms 'Neath Lifeless Stars (2026)

Label: Inverse Records

Track list:

1. Among Ruins Forlorn

2. Scholars of Empires Beyond

3. As the Slaughtered Wizards Reincarnate

4. Frozen Desolate Warfields

5. Vacuous Gods of the Abyss

6. Unearthly Kingdoms 'Neath Lifeless Stars

7. In the Fading Light of Burning Cathedrals

Acolythus' debut album Unearthly Kingdoms 'Neath Lifeless Stars (released May 8 via Inverse Records) is a raw, analog-focused slice of Finnish old-school melodic black metal., the record delivers 32 minutes of aggressive, atonal tremolo riffs and mystical worldbuilding,,  Acolythus was born from the desire of seasoned musicians to create an outlet for their purely black metal aspirations, apparently that was entirely composed produced and recorded in record time just one month !!! (February 2026) and ….. the result is truly impressive for your information Acolythus album’s production involves no studio trickery, no digital track editing no cheating, everything heard comes from real instruments played by the line-up, capturing the raw aggression of each take.

The final result delivers a chilling sound typical of the 90s, yet with an organic clarity that allows the music to breathe and there is no clinical production like modern bands

Acolythus prove that when you are committed to the task and have mastered what you are doing, the work will be approved and validated

 And here we confirm that everything modern is substandard, just sophisticated exactly as Jeff Walker stated Carcass frontman Jeff Walker famously characterized modern extreme metal as "substandard". Around the time of his band's comeback, he expressed his belief that the quality of death and extreme metal had declined since the mid-90s and unfortunately, that is the sad truth

Angrmáni's work is built upon quintessentially Finnish tremolo-picked riffs which contrast with the violence of the singing

Maleficarum delivers an intense performance driven by blast beats and martial rhythms blast beats are constant, brings a very good dynamism to the drumming, alternating between crushing grooves and ferocious bursts of speed and drumming sound is natural no gating or sound replacement with samples

The overall reception within the underground community is extremely positive, particularly on specialized platforms and social media also the album cover matches the vibe, too and very fit with the album's content with post-apocalyptic land scape …. forgotten kingdoms beneath dead and dark stars with presence and feeling of icy loneliness detectable in the lyrics and all this in black and white in keeping with the rules of the true old-school black metal

The album feels like it was released in debut 90’s , but with technical proficiency and musicality far superior to the demos of that era.

Tracks to pay attention Scholars of Empires Beyond, Vacuous Gods of the Abyss and In the Fading Light of Burning Cathedrals in any case don’t waste your time go listen and share or add Unearthly Kingdoms 'Neath Lifeless Stars in your collection

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Unholy Redeemer - A Fever to Dethrone All Kings (2023)

 

Label: Sphere Of Apparition Records

Tracklist:

1. A Fever to Dethrone All Kings

2. Revere the Slaughter

3. Halo of Flies

This is the perfect debut demo of true Death Fucking Metal of Unholy Redeemer, based in Australia/Denmark. Cassette version to be released by Extremely Rotten Productions (Den) and CD version hosted by Australian label Sphere Of Apparition Records with 3 tracks of dark ans blasphemic death metal who remember with their sound and concept inspiration to a great names like Morbid Angel (old Morbid Angel of course) Incantation,and maybe Acheron

A Fever to Dethrone All Kings begins with first tracks A Fever to Dethrone All Kings its massive heavy evil riffs from hell for Hell's Headbangers followed by a deep horrific growling vocal from cave , we also find a small presence maybe just a touch of Swedish death metal riffs like Dismember and the drumming is absolutely sublime with endless blast beats except when tempo changes in any case tempo changes at the right time.

Second track Revere the Slaughter and it’s more technical with more tempo changes adding little bit brutality and maybe some little groovy moment ,and the third track Halo of Flies very pretty awesome killer  sound and this is the song to pay attention because it’s true demonic ancient sound with some Incantation vibes.

This demo can be Appreciated by a lot of extreme metal fans , and maybe this demo is key of Unholy Redeemer  and it’s not important if this record has a low budget production, because the modern metal sucks with their advanced technology in studio with their substandard work.

Now you must add this demo to your collection .

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Nastergal - The Untold War (2024)

 

Label: WormHoleDeath

Tracklist:

1.Brothers In War

2.The Stillest Hour

3.Redemption

4.Involuntary Bliss

5.The Underworld

6.Will to Power

7.My Wandering Soul

8.The Vision

9.Immaculate Perception

10.The Three Evils

After their EP, Solitude, unveiled to the world in 2022 under the Wormholedeath banner, Nastergal continues their journey with their debut full-length album. A dark and enigmatic opus, The Untold  War emerges as an ode to existential turmoil, drawing inspiration from the profound wisdom encapsulated within Friedrich Nietzsche’s seminal work, Thus Spoke Zarathustra.

 

Playing an Infernal black metal brutalized by an evil death metal followed by rapid riffage, vocals which involves frost-bitten old-school black metal vocals, drums, which delves into the vast world of rapid and intense brutal drum work and blast beats drums are monster kill with tempo and speed changes at the right time

This international black metal band or black/death this is how I describe their style black/death  it’s not really true black metal especially compared to their album cover by the way it’s not fit with The Untold  War,they should have put some evil/satan things with an apocalyptic landscape destroyed and devastateby an endless infernal warwho revealsconflicts of a world.

Because at first, I underestimated The Untold  War by this fucking cover fortunately their content can have a great success and it is a very promising start ,add The Untold  War directly without  thinking to your collection.

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Evil Incarnate- Lucifers Crown (2023)

 

 Label:Bestial Burst

Tracklist:

1. Intro (Prophetic March Of The Devils Legion)

2. Not My Christ

3. Undisputed Outlaw

4. Great Dragon Of Thunder

5. Lucifers Crow

6. Crosses In Disgrace

7. Penetrating Infest

8. Black Box Of Fear

9. The Corpse Born

10. Seduced By The Devil

Ultimately in 2023 a primitive, prehistoric, pure and true death metal, without advanced technology or effect or sound modify, a hope that makes us forget the Invasion of modern metal.

Lucifers Crown is an heavy sound from the caves of hell for Hell's Headbangers, traditional style of old school death metal with satanic , anti-christianity / Antisemitism and blasphemy  influences with U.S southern touch  (dark, Satanic death metal) early Morbid Angel and Acheron early underground death metal bands back to my head when I listen Lucifers Crown ,just by the preview of Prophetic March of The Devils Legion you will understand it is like Hell's Judgement or beginning of eternal war, but the most important thing on this album you can see the 'golden age  '80s/early '90s death metal

Evil Incarnate on this album presents a pretty easy-peasy and simple run of traditional death metal riffing and sometimes guitars were heavy as hell

the production, is a miror of the mid-'90s sound. The mix is completely dominated by the dirty, ultra-bassy guitar tone, which is so distorted as to render some of the more minimalist riffs. Drums are pushed into the background and nestled next to the vocals, with only bass drums and cymbals being very readily audible, as the gruff, mid-range growls of Michael Eisenhauer occupy a similar acoustic space to the guitar, pushing them together into a single homogenous mass. The overall sound is very forceful and seething, and it fits the somewhat chaotic style of death metal that Evil Incarnate plays pretty perfectly. It's clean enough to allow the listener to understand everything that's going on, but not so much that the evil, anti-Christian atmosphere is compromised.

I think , you should have no no no  you must have  " Lucifers Crown " in your collection..

Silent Obsession - Countdown (2021)

Label:Independent

Tracklist:

1. Intro

2. End of an Era

3. Exhausted Resource

 

After the release of the “Lost” EP in 2020, Silent Obsession drops its latest EP  “Countdown” three song  EP portrays an in-depth extreme musical perspective into the devastating, global apocalypse.

Fusion of technical progressive and brutal death metal ….. Usually the progressive and the brutal not fit !! the melodic touch at the beginning of End of an Era it gives completely a modern style and it gives an impression as if we are moving away from death metal and diverting the trajectory towards to metalcore or deathcore like some traks from the first EP Lost (metalcore vocals the wrong side of “Lost”)..
so you can classify Silent Obsession like progressive death metal band in this case the second and last track its called Exhausted Resources and I find it more death metal then the first ,with a fucking  great work with their riffs and solos…good rhythm created by bass guitar and drums.

Of course Silent Obsession has potential to show something better and bigger on their next release However you can add this EP to your collection.

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Shrieking Demons - Diabolical Regurgitations (2021)

 

Label: Caligari Records

Tracklist:

1.Water Drop Torture         

2.Hidden Cathedral of Diseases

3.Unspeakable Rites         

4.Whispering Corridors

Pure ans truly old school, Diabolical Regurgitations erupted from '80s,' 90s .

,Shrieking Demons plays evil shouting in an era of death metal we all wish we would never leave.

Shrieking Demons are pretty firmly grounded in old school death metal. And I have to say the band doesn’t just blast and play fast like modern bands…… Shrieking Demons is a true pleasure to your ears ….sound that makes you want to shake your head and destroy a pack of beers .
don't waste your time ,add this album to your collection .

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Silent Obsession -Lost (2020)

Label:Independent

Tracklist:

1.Intro                 

2.Paranoia Activity               

3.Dead               

4.Destruction of the Spirit

At first it was originally a solo project formed by Max Marginal around the year 2017 that wanted to go forwards from the standard metal acts growing up around the Algerian Metal Scene, he recruited some musicians and passed from some different line-ups but he couldn’t find some serious potential to match the exact band’s musical perspective, due to various reasons, lack of culture,technique, musical spirit and availability reasons.

in June 2nd 2020 the Ep Lost was released featured 3 tracks of intense Death Metal with an intro which exactly  pretty impressive riffs and sound that pleases the ears and guitar solo who holds your attention , followed by  Paranoia Activity drumming at the debute remember me Sacrifice Unto Sebek of Nile next you feel the Technical point with the modern acts.

Third track D.E.A.D the most brutal part of the Ep and maybe its combination of technical death metal and progressive modern metal I’m not sure ,but it looks like this , and there is solo who remember me directly Icons of Evil of Vital Remains a sign that proves good inspiration.

Forth and last track Destruction Of The Spirit  the most heavy part of the Ep but in the middle the temp change and rise the speed after just a few second , and finished with a more at least fast pace followed with pretty awesome guitar solo ,and to conclude Lost is the beginning of Silent Obsession we can say that’s an acceptable or good start .Waiting for next things or stuff follow the band on youtube ,facebook or spotify and do not  forget to add this E.P to your collection .

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Slave One – Disclosed Dioptric Principles (2016)

Label: Dolorem Records

Tracklist:

1.Deus Otiosus       

2.The Antikythera Mechanism    

3.Obsidian Protocol Achievement          

4.For Shiva Whispered the Universe                

5.Aeon Dissonance          

6.Liquid Transcendental Echoes                       

7.Degenesis       

     

At first I underestimated this album , The rhythm and the fusion sound of other musical style (it’s not acceptable like the long shity intro of track 5 Aeon Dissonance and track 7 Degenesis ) and progressive death metal riffs thing that gave me bad impression and other important thing in this album It’s lacks of brutality and old-school atmosphere approach .

………. Fortunately some beers help me to understand Disclosed Dioptric Principles because a great technical dose slaps me to my face (maybe the thing who save Disclosed Dioptric Principles) without forgetting the cover art of this album it’s fit perfectly with the concept . Its a nice portion of the mythological art perfectly reflects what the album is about. It has a metaphysical /mythological aspect  with a scientific approach…………………….. The technicality of the progressiveness of the multiple notes are well done .

Slave One use the methodology of majority of the new bands they do possess , which means modern death metal sound perfectly process and recorded , Drumming very attracted by drum triggers It allows to have gained great attention , riffs affected and accelerate, leads and solo well felt as well as precise and correct double-pedal shots, but all this does not come out of the ordinary …………… It's a bit what jeff walker said about modern death metal “people have been tolerating a kind of substandard product”

Slave one remind me two great names Necrophagist and Obscura but if you compare Necrophagist don’t miss brutality ….in brief Necrophagist brutal death metal a pure death metal followed with a great dose of technical brutality Obscura miss a lot the brutality who Necrophagist get but the great likeness is the technical playing except that’s more prog , so we can say in brief it’s progressive technical death metal the case of Slave one , in any case I think , you should have " Disclosed Dioptric Principles " in your collection if you want.

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