Named after the mountain that rises above Berat, the city of 1001 windows, and inspired by traditional Albanian music, Italy based sludge / doom act TOMORR (est. 2017) root their sound in the harshest doom metal, burdened with tribal rhythms and dark atmospheres that blend together and pan out remarkably well. The band comes from the rural world of the ancient corners without concrete, of slowness and fatigue, of bad weather and stones, enemies and walls.
Tomorr’s debut album is a rough and nostalgic path through ruins carved by ancient habits. The slowness and fatigue of old practices from a rural world that concedes nothing. The obstinacy against the wicked and shining stony mother. An hymn to the most isolated villages, unwitting warriors against concrete.
βTomorrβ is our first studio album, released via Acid Cosmonaut Records on November 6h. To celebrate its recent release, we have teamed up with the band to give you their special track by track commentary and a quick guide to best underground bands from Tuscany.
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“Inspired by Albanian folkloristic music and traditional chants, we coined the term βRural Doomβ in order to express our (not-entirely) abstract attention for bucolic customs and our heavy contemporary-rooted sounds” – says the band. “Albanian music itβs not just an Unesco-protected human heritage, itβs an usage related to a long-standig but slowly-vanishing culture moved on the background by the expanding globalization.
In this sense, the rural side symbolizes a peculiar cultural experience fighting against concrete and homogenisation.”
Track by track commentary
Kaba
We have to spend some supplemental thoughts on this first track due to our attempt to fuse together instrumental folk music and traditional isopolyphonic chants of Albania. Even thought that this song works as an album intro, Kaba is meant to be an indipendent track recalling albanian βkabΓ β (freely translatable as din or noise), long instrumental improvisations usually played with Defs (alb. Tambourine Percussions), clarinets and accordions. We added additional instruments and sounds during the recordings, like the introductive bells and the clarinet (played by our guitarist and vocalist Jmeister). In our opinion, the final chant gives the distinctive trait to this track, itβs an isopolyphony extracted from the classic albanian movie β14 vjec dhender/peralle nga e kaluaraβ. In that scene women close to the main family sing the traditional three-voices chorus while clothing the bride before her marriage. Beyond being a good metaphor for our βclothingβ before recording, we are fashinated by either isopolyphonic chant and its concrete purpose in ritualistic acts.
Vargmal/Varr
These two tracks, called respectively βMountain Chainβ and βGraveβ, poetically portray two episodes of albanian mythology: the deadly struggle between two brothers, Tomorr and Shpirag, and the death and pietrification of a young girl, Osumi. It is indeed a founding myth representing the birth of Berat, being the three characters named after the two mountains next to and the river passing through the city.
Grazing Land
Here we have one of our most dynamic punk-attitude song. Characterized by tribal rithms and fuzzy sharp sounds, this track tries to evoke the desolate and lost lands encircled by pastoral habits, where every living beings and habitats coexisted in one single individual. A fitting image could be the one of a thick flock dancing on diabolic clarinetβs notes.
Terra
This song has been reinterpreted by one of the most famous living albanian pop-folk singer Ylli Baka. Thatβs to say, this is neather a cover nor an arrangament, we composed the instrumentals from scratch before introducing Bakaβs lyrics, being working by chance. In the original version (mantained by us), Ylli Baka poetically denounces the progressive and culture-annihilating urban development, the appearance of copious ruins in the forgotten βlonely countrysideβ ratifying the decline of values.
The 1001 windows village
Ending our not-so-brief commentary with the last song, The 1001 windows village, there isnβt much left to say. This song is a direct homage to Berat, Jmeister native city. We could say that its lenght, its monotonous structure, its insistent main riff (actually the first riff that we composed during our first day rehearsal) and its classic stoner doom playing may represent three matters: the unalterable appearence of Berat, our tedious and provincial every day life and, last but definitively not least, our 10 years long friendship and brotherhood.
Asked about some other records and artists worth looking into, the band shared some Tuscanian entities, bands and projects close to TOMORR.
“Some of them are beloved friends for us, others are valiant music players, every one of them is an important piace of our story as musicians and individuals.”
We even arrange gigs in our city as a collective called βTerremerseβ, having the opportunity to know, discuss and musically grow with tons of bands (and other collectives alike) based in our country while promoting their music.
Our side projects and past bands are:
Polvere – Cheroβs (drums) solo noise drone project (ep released on the past march)
Urge – Mostroβs screamo terrorists (2016)
Saat – Stoner rock quartet w/ Jmeister and Mostro (2016)
Must-listen artists from Tuscany:
Idlegod – They have been like mentors for us, lords of kindness and heavy riffs.
Vij – Our brothers, they do it slow, very slow and evily funereal.
Stoner Kebab – Fucking best band in the world, never heard such an intelligence in composing even after years and years.
Otakusuite – Our beloved brothers can tripping you with some heavy-psych instrumental dances.
Marlon Brando A physical experience through a slow acid lullaby, we really need a new album.
Serpentu – A trio of witches and wizards of folky post-rock, the best soundtrack for early horror movies.
Naresh Ran, out now with his last work Re Dei Re Minore
P A S S E D, out now with COMMUNION
La Cuenta, dark, heavy and painfull
Loia, our blacked hardcore warriors
Butters, Angriest Punk bros
Lig.ot, one of the youngest and most interesting electronics composer
Cult of terrorism, friend in hate
