Forgotten Tomb – Nihilistic Estrangement (Review)

This is the tenth album from Forgotten Tomb, an Italian black/doom/sludge metal band.

2015’s Hurt Yourself and the Ones You Love and 2017’s We Owe You Nothing are both favourites of mine, so it’s great to have some new work from Forgotten Tomb, especially something as well-wrought as Nihilistic Estrangement.

Every Forgotten Tomb album has its own personality, and Nihilistic Estrangement seems to dip back into each of them. The album offers a wide variety of stylistic nods back to older Forgotten Tomb conquests, from the depressive black metal of the band’s formative days, to the hateful sludge of their most recent work, and much in between these, (including hard rock, classic metal, and crushing doom). This approach gives the album a personality all of its own, as despite revisiting some older sounds, Nihilistic Estrangement is an album that’s looking forward just as much as it’s glancing backwards. The songs are all very strong on their own right, yet fitting holistically together, the album forges a distinctive voice for itself from the ashes of the past, with a view to what comes next.

Traversing through a range of material, from blackened brutality to the sublimely atmospheric, Forgotten Tomb’s latest is powerful and gripping. Each track here is different and has its own themes and character. This diversity ably demonstrates the talent that Forgotten Tomb have, and each song is very well-written and accomplished.

Nihilistic Estrangement is another masterful release from Forgotten Tomb. I confess I just really enjoy this band’s work, but even despite this, it’s easy to see how good Nihilistic Estrangement is.

Very highly recommended.