I find myself enjoying Horned Almighty's cover of Autopsy's "Twisted Mass of Burnt Decay" more than the whole of "World of Tombs." Leaps and bounds of an album's quality are spoken when a bonus track-a song the gentlemen of Horned Almighty did not write, no less-trumps nine original numbers that should be able to naturally outshine a cover. A big dip in quality rears its ugly head on "World of Tombs," sadly. Almost four years it took Horned Almighty to make this answer to "Necro Spirituals," a wicked beating of black 'n' roll mayhem. Although the records rock the same design, they are worlds apart in terms of quality. For all the time it took to get this thing recorded and released, the final product is just about inexcusable.Sloppy seconds of the metal-body-meets-rock-attitude assembly of "Necro Spirituals" is the tale of the tape. Rather than, you know, tamper with the style a bit and dare to give the record a tint of uniqueness, "World of Tombs" is "Necro Spirituals II: The Leftovers We Left Out For Four Years." It sounds like "Necro Spirituals," it flows like "Necro Spirituals," it has the same riffs as "Necro Spirituals," the songs are exactly like those on "Necro Spirituals." The problem with the blatant self-replication is obvious: "World of Tombs" has nothing to separate itself from its predecessor; it is a carbon copy to the letter. Hard rock guitar parts and black metal riffs come and go as Horned Almighty throws in blast beats, rock-influenced rhythm sections, and growling vocals without power. Dreary and humdrum.
This style has a lot of room to work with, but here it's like running off a checklist to make these songs as categorized as possible. "World of Tombs" has three tricks: the upbeat punisher, the mid-paced cruncher, the cooked-a-little-blacker rocker. These schemes are fine for making a song or two, but lightning has a little trouble striking the same spot nine times, especially when the targets are pinned together so closely, if you get my drift. Long story short, the riffs get stale and the songs turn flat; too much of a mundane, make-the-rounds routine. Sad, because the guys of Horned Almighty have the performance factor nailed. Top-level presentations do not enrich music that is vapid at its core.
"World of Tombs" is perfectly listenable, sure. The problem I have with it is that it is so conservative, so foreseeable, so willing to take the easy way out when things get hairy. Horned Almighty does not need to change, but they do need to try.