{"id":1157962,"date":"2026-08-19T19:14:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T19:14:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1157962\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T19:14:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T19:14:19","slug":"street-tombs-existence-is-corruption-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1157962\/","title":{"rendered":"Street Tombs – Existence is Corruption Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Sometimes it just feels good to let rip some ferocious riffs, pound the drums at headbanging velocity, and rail about society\u2019s ills at a pitch that a caveman can appreciate. At least that\u2019s how I imagine New Mexico\u2019s Street Tombs <\/strong>approaches their songwriting. In 2023, they gave out a good ol\u2019 thrashing on their debut, Reclusive Decay, which didn\u2019t see coverage here, but did land on Decibel\u2019s top 40 albums of the year. Though Reclusive Decay had barely above 30 minutes of music, it\u2019s taken three years to release Existence is Corruption, yet another 30 minutes of high-octane crusty punk. Maybe they used that time to research the thematic content of their lyrics, whose topics include the \u201ccomplacency, corruption, and destruction\u201d that plague modern society. Nah, who am I kidding? They just want to bludgeon you over the head with the well-honed vocal, riff, and d-beat attack they\u2019ve spent that time sharpening.<\/p>\n

Street Tombs<\/strong> combine the punky influence of early d-beat purveyors, Discharge<\/strong> and Celtic Frost<\/strong>, with the physical, in-your-face riffage of Bolt Thrower<\/strong>. This blend makes for a high-energy attack with endless riffs and plenty of whiplash as your neck attempts to navigate their bruising soundscape. Existence is Corruption is a no-frills dose of death metal, skipping the usual atmospheric opener and going straight for the jugular on the pummeling \u201cPestilent Storm.\u201d This proves the norm, as song after song blasts with furious drum beats and killer riffs, only really pausing for atmospherics once, when \u201cSystematic Suffering\u201d ends on some guitar feedback and atmospherics, to horrifying effect. The risk for this kind of approach is that the music might bleed together, but Street Tombs<\/strong> keep their riffs creative and mix up the pacing. There are plenty of brief but spectacular solos as well as mood shifts that allow the guitars to dig in at a different, less furious angle. So yes, the caveman will dig what these guys are doing, but so will the more evolved among our species.<\/p>\n

While they have the vibe of early Discharge<\/strong>, Street Tombs<\/strong> filter it through more modern production values, giving the instruments more punch. This probably comes across on the drums more strongly than anything else. Ben Brodsky\u2019s performance provides a sturdy foundation for the music, and his sheer power gives a boost thanks to a relentless, pounding energy. Brodsky has the sense to lay back and get creative in order to avoid any fatigue from constant d-beat jackhammering, notably some mid-tempo antics on \u201cSystematic Suffering.\u201d The riff attack from David McMaster and Damian Jacoby also engages the brain at a primal level, yet there\u2019s a progressiveness to how they play, allowing surprising developments to permeate the songs. \u201cMental Mutilation\u201d displays this ability to engage carnal pleasures while the guitars organically shift, leading to a fabulous, though sadly brief, solo.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

As much as Street Tombs<\/strong> does mix things up, a uniformity begins to creep into Existence is Corruption. Yes, there are shifts in tone and pacing within songs, but the persistent d-beat blasts and deathly riffs still dominate the record. It\u2019s hard to complain when they play them this effectively, and in such a brief package, yet it does mean individual tracks begin to blend together. Given the style, the 3-4 minute range is the sweet spot, which means the songs that reach or hit the 5-minute mark start to feel repetitive (\u201cUpset the Grave,\u201d \u201cDeceptor\u201d). Jacoby\u2019s vocal delivery similarly suffers from a one-dimensional nature. Don\u2019t get me wrong. I love his vocals and believe they add a distinctive personality to the music, but the lack of diversity in delivery does contribute to that sense of uniformity. In all, these are some nitpicky ways of saying Existence is Corruption didn\u2019t quite break the score counter, but it came close.<\/p>\n

These streets may be mean, they may be ugly, and they may be gritty, but most importantly they are loads of fun. Where some death metal acts seek to be as dense and incomprehensible<\/a> as possible, or insert levels of high artistry<\/a> in their work, it\u2019s refreshing that acts like Street Tombs<\/strong> exist to engage your id, though with a high level of creativity, mixing intellectual stimulation with brain-melting riffs. These guys don\u2019t do anything that hasn\u2019t been done before, yet they excel at it and have written a record that\u2019s some of the most fun I\u2019ve had with death metal this year.<\/p>\n

\ufeff<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: 3.5\/5.0
DR<\/strong>: 6 | Format Reviewed<\/strong>: 320 kbps mp3
Label<\/strong>: Carbonized Records<\/a>
Websites<\/strong>: Bandcamp<\/a>
Releases Worldwide<\/strong>: August 21st, 2026<\/p>\n

\n\tGive in to Your Anger:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sometimes it just feels good to let rip some ferocious riffs, pound the drums at headbanging velocity, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1157963,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3936],"tags":[45789,10268,12295,309409,32544,314725,240266,142966,314726,12936,268618,77,314727,269,6080,6082,314728,16,15],"class_list":["post-1157962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-45789","tag-3-5","tag-american-metal","tag-aug26","tag-bolt-thrower","tag-carbonized-records","tag-celtic-frost","tag-crust-punk","tag-d-beat","tag-death-metal","tag-discharge","tag-entertainment","tag-existence-is-corruption","tag-music","tag-review","tag-reviews","tag-street-tombs","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117123776983470813","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1157962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1157962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1157962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1157963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1157962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1157962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1157962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}