STREET TOMBS have unveiled "Upset The Grave", the second single from their forthcoming second full-length "Existence Is Corruption", via a track premiere at Decibel Magazine. The album lands on August 21 through Carbonized Records.
The Santa Fe band deal in crusty blackened d-beats and riffs dragged straight out of the gutter, and the new song is a bleak piece of writing to match. Guitarist and backing vocalist David McMaster explained what sits underneath it. "'Upset The Grave' plays into themes of human entrapment and addiction. It culminates at the point in which humans choose to remain complacent in their self-destruction. The nature of our pain and suffering differ, but 'Upset The Grave' thrashes to something universal, as consuming destructive thoughts collectively contaminate and rip apart our apathetic minds."
Decibel were rather more colourful about it, framing the track as a seasonal remedy. Where BLUE CHEER once insisted there was no cure for the summertime blues, the magazine offered "a fistful of old school New Mexico death metal" as a rebuttal — "consider your Summertime blues cured. And by cured we mean stomped on, ravaged and set on fire. This five-minute cranium walloper... relies on simple feral savagery to deliver blow after blow."
"Existence Is Corruption" is an unapologetically vitriolic read on modern society, complacency, corruption and destruction. As we reported when the album was announced in July, it was recorded, mixed and mastered by Grammy-winning producer Greg Wilkinson at Engine 70 Studios in Santa Fe and Earhammer Studio in Oakland, with additional recording by bassist Galen Baudhuin. Artwork comes from Shane Donaldson, with the logo by drummer Ben Brodsky. It arrives on CD, LP, cassette and digital.
"Existence Is Corruption" track listing:
- Pestilent Storm
- Deceptor
- Septic Values
- Upset The Grave
- Systematic Suffering
- Mental Mutilation
- Braindead
- Parasitic Feast
The band have also confirmed a seven-date western run for September, opening at home in Santa Fe:
- 09/01 — Tumbleroot, Santa Fe, NM
- 09/04 — Seventh Circle, Denver, CO
- 09/05 — Aces High, Salt Lake City, UT
- 09/06 — The Shredder, Boise, ID
- 09/07 — The Kraken, Seattle, WA
- 09/08 — High Water Mark, Portland, OR
- 09/12 — Knucklehead, Los Angeles, CA
STREET TOMBS were forged in 2017 at The Cave, the Santa Fe underground venue where the band hosted shows for the local DIY punk and metal community. Their 2023 debut "Reclusive Decay" placed 38th on Decibel's Top 40 Albums Of 2023, followed by U.S. tours including the Reborn Dead Tour with LEFT TO DIE and a North American run supporting NECROT.
The lineup is Damian Jacoby (vocals, guitar), David McMaster (guitar, backing vocals), Ben Brodsky (drums) and Galen Baudhuin (bass).
Stream "Upset The Grave": Decibel Magazine