''The Enduring Spirit'' is the fourth studio album by Canadian

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

band Tomb Mold. It was released on September 15, 2023, through 20 Buck Spin. Physical copies were released on October 13. It marks their first studio release in four years, following ''Planetary Clairvoyance'' (2019).

Background

Tomb Mold announced the album on September 11, 2023, only four days before its release. It was recorded at Boxcar Sound Recording with assistance by long-time collaborator Sean Pearson. Mixing and mastering was handled by Arthur Rizk. In a statement, the band shared that they spent the previous three years "spiraling in the cycle reincarnate necessity" and announced that the "myriad of consciousness" have now aggregate in one. The trio invited listeners to "dive into the gnashing current" of their new record. The album was described as an "expansion on their sound" displayed on the EP ''Aperture of Body'', released in June 2022. In promotion of the album, Tomb Mold hosted two listening parties in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. The cover artwork depicts a painting by Jesse Jacobi.

Critical reception

''The Enduring Spirit'' received a score of 85 out of 100 on review aggregator

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

based on four critics' reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Brad Sanders at ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' called it their best album yet and awarded the record the accolade "Best New Music". Through a "fast and loose" play "with the boundaries between

and their myriad other interests—

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...

, '70s prog,

4AD 4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name Axis Records by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD after the release of th ...

-style

dream-pop Dream pop (also typeset as dreampop) is a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such as ...

", the album finds the band "roaring back to life" and unfolding "tangled riffs, nimble drums, and inhuman growls they perfected across their first three records". Sanders listed Klebanoff's lyrics and Vella and Power's guitar play as the key points to their evolution, the latter being referred to as being the "hooks" of the album. Corinne Westbrook of ''

Knotfest Knotfest is a music festival created in 2012 by American rock band Slipknot and their longtime manager and CEO of 5B Artist Management, Cory Brennan. The event has been held both as a destination festival and touring festival in several countries ...

'' praised the "endless fantastic riffing, complex and adventuring songwriting and groovy brutality", calling it a nice opportunity to "bludgeon your senses". The album was a longlisted nominee for the

2024 Polaris Music Prize The 2024 edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on September 17, 2024 at Massey Hall. The longlist was announced on June 11, and the shortlist was released July 12. The award was won by Jeremy Dutcher for his album '' Motewo ...

."2024 Polaris Music Prize long list: the Beaches, Tobi, Elisapie, Beverly Glenn-Copeland and more"

CBC Music CBC Music (formerly known as CBC FM, CBC Stereo and CBC Radio 2) is a Canadian FM radio network operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It used to concentrate on classical and jazz. In 2007 and 2008, the network transitioned towards a ...

, June 11, 2024.

Track listing

Personnel

;Tomb Mold * Derrick Vella – guitars, bass * Payson Power – guitars * Max Klebanoff – drums, vocals ;Additional personnel * Sean Pearson – recording * Arthur Rizk – mixing, mastering

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Enduring Spirit 2023 albums Tomb Mold albums