Interviews About Albums: Tomb Slab - Tomb Slab (2026)

In this new interview, we sat down with the English Blackened Sludge Metal band Tomb Slab to ask questions about their album, "Tomb Slab".

1. What can you say about this new album?

‘Tomb Slab’ is our self-titled debut album, just over half an hour of grim, horrible sludge metal. We recorded it in a day with Ian Boult at Stuck On A Name Studios in Nottingham, and it’s due to be released on vinyl and CD on July 17th via Road To Masochist, featuring artwork by Amy Edwards. I’m really pleased with how it’s all come together. It sounds massive, and we’re really excited for people to hear it!

2. What is the meaning of the band name?

We had a few potential band names in mind, but opted for Tomb Slab partly because it sounded suitably heavy, but also partly because it was the only name we could all agree on.

3. Which one is the composer of the album?

James (Caygill, guitar) is our main songwriter so far; everything on the album is based on demos he’d recorded several years ago, which we then learned to play as a band with me and John (Hunter, bass) adding our own little touches to the demoed material. All the lyrics are shared between Dean (Lettice, vocals) and James.

4. If you had to pick one song to recommend to new listeners, which one would you pick?

We picked ‘What’s Below, Remains Below’ as the first single from the album as it’s the shortest and perhaps most immediate song, whilst still giving a good example of what we sound like - even if some of the other songs on the album are slower and even more crushing.

5. Is there a special message in this album? If there is what it is?

The Lyrics are inspired by movies from the golden era of horror; this subject matter can be applied to current affairs that are ongoing in the world; the horrors expressed are an extension of those real-life events. Take from them what you will; each song has its own hidden meaning. 

6. Are there some lyrics that you'd love to share and explain their meaning?

As mentioned above, lyrics are open to interpretation. I don't want to influence anyone with what I think the song is about; some have deeper meanings, whilst others are just simple and straight to the point.

7. Which inspirations have been important for this album? Like musically or friends, family, someone you'd love to thank especially?

We all bonded over a love of classic 90s sludge like Iron Monkey, Eyehategod, Grief, Noothgrush, etc., and definitely tried to capture that vibe whilst putting our own spin on it too. We’ve all played in a lot of other bands ranging from grindcore to black metal, so I think that gives Tomb Slab a bit of extra bite, too.

8. Anything to add?

We’ve got a load of UK shows coming up this year, including a November tour with fellow riff fiends Bile Caster and Cattle Hammer, but we’re keen to gig as much as we can with this band, so if you’re interested in booking us, email us, drop us a message on Facebook or Instagram, and we can sort something out!

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