Autumn Tomb is what happens when Zombi’s synth shadow meets The Sword’s low-end weight.
Steve Moore of Zombi has formed a new doom band with The Sword bassist Bryan Richie and drummer Santiago “Jimmy” Vela. Their self-titled debut arrives November 6 through Spaceflight Records, and its first track, “Crumbling Thrones,” is already out.
A Friendship Gets Much Heavier
The three musicians did not arrive at Autumn Tomb through a cold studio introduction. Zombi and The Sword became friends while touring the West Coast together in 2022. The Sword regularly brought Moore onstage for an encore cover of Ozzy Osbourne’s “Mr. Crowley,” a version that later appeared on the band’s vinyl-only Conquest Of Quarantine EP.
Moore and Richie had also worked together on 2022’s Zombi & Friends, Vol. 1. By 2024, Moore was ready to build a heavier project of his own and knew which rhythm section could handle it.
In Autumn Tomb, Moore takes guitar, vocals, lyrics and synthesizers. Richie handles bass and Vela sits behind the kit. The sound is rooted in slow, down-tuned doom and sludge, but Moore’s electronics keep the music from settling into a familiar stoner-metal shape.
Inside The Debut Album
The record was assembled across several rooms. Moore worked at Nightmare City in Albany, New York, while Richie recorded at Paper Weapons Studio in Taylor, Texas. Phil Manley completed additional engineering at Hummingbird Studio in Oakland.
“Crumbling Thrones” is the first proper look at the result. The track moves with the patience its title suggests, letting the riff drag forward while the synthesizers create a colder space around it.
For Moore, the project reconnects with a love of metal that stretches back to the late 1980s. For Richie and Vela, it is a chance to play together outside The Sword without simply rebuilding that band under another name.
Autumn Tomb’s debut lands November 6. “Crumbling Thrones” is streaming now.
