Tons: Musineè Doom Session Vol. 1
Now and then doom bands get the name right. It’s not about the name, you say? No, it is about the name, damn it. None of this stupid wizard junk with fire, bong smoking, electric space-worm-riding, trip-to-the-sun-in-a-cardboard-spaceship, Jesus-in-Hell-with-the-Virgin-doing-lines-whilst-reading-The Return of the King junk that’s boring. Sadly that was a reference to probably about two hundred or so doom bands from the past ten years, minimum. Tons doesn’t waste any time, however. They’re weighty, pun-not-even-needed heaviness. All that weight falls down on you with a single, crushing blow, a thesaurus-not-needed blow. Tons has no need for blow-after-blow assaults to wreck your complacency, they do it all in a single aneurism you saw coming from the beginning, prepared as you were to die. Musineè Doom Session Vol. 1 actually consists of some older tracks and two new ones that mark off their future development, but the whole thing devastates. And, can’t complain about the H. P. Lovecraft and esoteric references. Most bands of this type blurt out the usual dollar tripe, but Tons is more artful with their selection and homages, as well as their playing.
Musineè Doom Session Vol. 1 takes as its main thematic impetus Mount Musinè, a natural formation in Italy with an history of legends surrounding it, and which Tons details significantly in both English and Italian on their site. Suffice to say, it’s similar to what Mussorgsky did with his famous “Night on Bald Mountain”, which is based on an actual land formation in the Ukraine with a long history of witch legends. So, excellent, great starting point, Tons has basically metaphysically placed themselves upon this legendary viper-infested mountain to create this album, thus the title. We probably used ‘metaphysically’ completely out of context there, but screw it, it’s better than most doom bands can do, and Tons has the musical part of that domination covered, plus, got to love the minor Sleep reference to really the only good album they ever did. Yeah, you read that right.
Musineè Doom Session Vol. 1 is an awesome listen, plain and simple. The production is so filthy and grimy you have to take a shower after listening to it. The chords fall apart mid-playing, the drums crumble like burnt paper, and that throat, tore to pieces. And though the first four tracks are technically older recordings, with the final two being the new ones out of the bunch, it all has a nice consistency to it that runs seamlessly throughout. Starts out crushing, ends crushing, it’s crush all the way. The last two are instrumental, but it doesn’t matter, and the singing found in the others has that typical doom tear that’s somewhere between screaming and chattering like a gremlin. Very classic, and solid, done with review. It’s sad this album saw such a limited CD and vinyl pressing, though with the latter you have more of a chance of picking it up.
Written by Stanley Stepanic
Tons: Musineè Doom Session Vol. 1
Escape From Today
4.5 / 5
