Band:	Forgotten Tomb
Album:	Nightfloating
Style:	Melodic black metal, Doom metal
Release date:	July 12, 2024
A review by:	AndyMetalFreak

01. Nightfloating
02. A Chill That You Can't Taint
03. This Sickness Withered My Heart
04. Unsafe Spaces
05. Drifting
06. A Despicable Gift

They're not quite a Forgotten Tomb just yet.

Forgotten Tomb is an Italian black metal band formed back in 1999; although specifically rooted in DSBM, their style has evolved somewhat over the course of their career, as they've ventured into classic meloblack territory while introducing modern doom and gothic elements, yet always managing to retain their unmistakable depressive black metal sound. This year, the band marks their 25th anniversary with the release of their tenth full-length offering, Nightfloating, with the 4-man line-up led by founding member Herr Morbid remaining unaltered since their previous record Nihilistic Estrangement.

The band blends together various musical styles from both their past and present, while venturing ever deeper into darker territories throughout its 40-minute runtime. The cover art hand-drawn by Greek artist Satta La Main really complements the album's depressive mood and its grim lyrical content, and although there's a real sense of refreshment here on this latest record, there's still that unmistakable Forgotten Tomb sound. The title track "Nightfloating" starts the album off, and is certainly one powerful melancholic opener. The guitars alternate between traditional doomy leads and hypnotic blackened tremolos, and they work perfectly in sync with the harsh sinister growls and expertly timed rhythm section. With that, there's also a short, slow, majestic weeping acoustic passage partway through, which gives listeners a dark, sorrowful, atmospheric aura.

The second track in, "A Chill That You Can't Taint", is also an early album highlight; from the start, there's clearly a more fiery tempo and groovy approach. This blends death doom and traditional black metal with gothic touches, all of which collide in near perfect harmony, finished off with a beautiful soft piano piece. All of these elements mentioned make it difficult to pinpoint what exact genre category the song belongs to, which only makes it all the more intriguing. "This Sickness Withered My Heart" continues the fine form of the first two tracks. blending DSBM with death doom, and it's the doomy melancholic guitar leads, as well as the strikingly upbeat and groovy rhythm section (especially midway on as the tempo picks up), that make this track memorable; it could well even be one of the band's catchiest songs in recent times. The next track, "Unsafe Spaces", then slows the pace down into the mid-tempo range, as the guitar tone noticeably becomes heavier and more powerful, and the riffs take a more direct doom approach. Still, it's the guitar leads that are once again the standout element for me.

However, just when you think you've heard it all, next up is an ambitiously out-of-character Medieval dungeon synth offering titled "Drifting", which I have to say is a strangely pleasant surprise. What better way is there though than to end the album with a 10-minute epic (it would be a rather short album otherwise), and that's where the closing track "A Despicable Gift" comes in. Although this song is generally quite repetitive structurally, mostly driven by a long, continuously looping riff, it ends with an exceptional solo (one of the best I've heard this year), followed by a groovy rhythmic outro that fades into the background, closing the album in grand fashion.

I'd say that Forgotten Tomb have marked their 25th anniversary with a real high note, and have done so by merging their early and present material through a great all-round performance and strong songwriting. I wouldn't go as far as to say that this is the band's best release to date, but it certainly brings back home some of the old character that made the group great in the first place, and it clearly shows just how far the band has come in the last quarter of a century.