Tomb Mold’s Manor of Inifinite Forms made a splash amongst the sweatpant-clad death metal cognoscenti last year, and for good reason: sick riffs. The New Wave of Old-School Swedish Death Metal has been shambling around for a few years now. That’s a lot of HM-2 abuse and belched screeds about Cthulhu and zombies. Tomb Mold break the, uh, mold by worshipping old-school Finnish death metal instead. Sure, they’re still inspired by Unleashed and Entombed. It’s really the idiosyncratic likes of Demilich and Convulse that get their blood flowing. That helps them stand out from the undead horde… at least to those familiar with the nuances of a very un-nuanced sound.

Planetary Clairvoyance, their third album, continues to make a case for their current dominance. As with their previous work, it’s not gonna convert anyone to the joys of brutality. Their brand of death metal doesn’t even have the concessions to accessibility that some of the Entombed-alikes offer. No death n’ roll, breakneck thrash parts, or big hooks here. Just mausoleum vapor vibes and twisty, complex riffage. And that’s enough for this subgenre. Still, one would hope a buzz band like them would improve from the last time around. Tomb Mold have.

There’s a marked improvement in both songwriting complexity and coherence. It’s a strong set of tunes, distinguishable from each other despite their oppressive nature. “Beg for Life” goes thick on the miasmic atmosphere, “Cerulean Salvation” runs in tiny circle pits, and “Heat Death” encapsulates its name. Some of the songs even attempt to break free of their mid-paced shackles! The title track and “Infinite Resurrection” both make valiant efforts to achieve escape velocity.

The biggest sticking point remains the vocals. It’s impressive that Max Klebanoff can slam out intricate drum patterns while belching from the very bottom of his soul. It doesn’t change the monochrome nature of said emissions. He’ll occasionally indulge in his version of a Tom Fischer “UNGH.” For the most part, he lets loose a steady stream of vocal vomit that does no favors to the ornate music beneath. Some listeners will be able to overlook the one-dimensional roar cutting through the multi-dimensional fabric of the instrumentals. That’s ultimately down to the individual. And hey, that approach pays homage to both Demilich and Convulse.

That aside, Planetary Clairvoyance plays to the band’s strengths and improves on previous releases. Tomb Mold succeeded at putting together a great death metal record. It’s still not enough to entirely win this reviewer over to their way of thinking, but it’s impossible not to recognize game of this caliber. Bonus points for cover art that perfectly represents the madness contained within.

Tomb Mold’s Planetary Clairvoyance materializes on 20 Buck Spin on July 19th. You can listen to “Accelerative Phenomenae” here and pre-order the album here.