If you were here earlier this year for Limerick, Ireland’s TOOMS premiering their second album, Karst (review here), then obviously you know what you’re getting in the trio’s new video for “Drinkvlt.” The four-minute pummeler is a standout from that weighted aggro bastard of an LP, with despondency and aural punishment to suit the times and a sound dense enough for you to feel it compressing your chest. TOOMS aren’t the first to bring a sense of the extreme into sludge, and they do vary the approach in tempo and atmosphere somewhat, but most of the thing is intensionally caustic and that seems to work just find for all involved parties. Except perhaps your brain, which they’ve just slow-punched into goo.

Or maybe that was the hooch. When “Drinkvlt” — the lyrics are in the creepy stop-motion video that’s premiering below — starts talking about ‘unity through alcohol’ and such, it legitimately sounds drunk. Fair enough. I couldn’t help but wonder if it was a sneaky political message calling for Irish unity caked in the stereotype of drunkardism, but I have nothing to back that assertion. It’s not in the text, as it were. Perhaps we’re just all uniting in getting slammed and stumbling off a cliff together, which honestly is how it feels being alive sometimes. Again, it’s a song for our day. I haven’t drunk alcohol since Dec. 2012, and I was miserable doing it last time I did, but quitting at life is something I can relate to, and the underlying message of “Drinkvlt” is basically that, coupled with dense distortion, harsh vocals, and lumbering groove.

And I’d also say alcoholic misery is relevant here, whatever else might be happening around that. The lyrics play off direction with “Line ’em up/Drink ’em down,” and so on, and don’t need to say much more than that, honestly, to convey the intoxicated wretchedness they’re going for. As a follow-up to their video for “Whitehorn,” which featured the three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Alex Hölzinger, bassist Anto Donnellan and drummer/vocalist Kieran Grace, it’s a different vibe. That clip had the band in it and this one just has this fucked up arthouse puppet getting wasted while sitting on a log by some bare drywall. It could hardly be more perfect to suit the song in question.

“Drinkvlt” premieres below, followed by the links where Karst is available from Cursed Monk Records, Road to Masochist and Fiadh Productions, depending on your format preference, the video for “Whitehorn” and the full stream of the record for those who are feeling brave and/or destructive.

Have at it and please enjoy:

TOOMS, “Drinkvlt” video premiere

LP/Digital Download available here: https://cursedmonk.bandcamp.com/album/karst

CD via Road To Masochist: https://roadtomasochist.bandcamp.com/album/karst

Tape Via Fiadh Productions: https://fiadh.bandcamp.com/album/karst

Line-up:
Anto Donnellan – Bass
Kieran Grace – Drums/Vocals
Alex Hölzinger – Guitars/Vocals

TOOMS, “Whitehorn” official video

TOOMS, Karst (2026)

TOOMS on Bandcamp

TOOMS on Instagram

TOOMS on Facebook

Cursed Monk Records website

Cursed Monk Records on Bandcamp

Cursed Monk Records on Instagram

Cursed Monk Records on Facebook

Road to Masochist Records website

Road to Masochist Records on Bandcamp

Road to Masochist Records on Instagram

Road to Masochist Records on Facebook

Fiadh Productions on Bandcamp

Fiadh Productions on Instagram

Fiadh Productions on Facebook

Tags: Cursed Monk Records, Fiadh Productions, Ireland, Karst, Limerick, Road to Masochist Records, TOOMS, TOOMS Karst

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 1st, 2026 at 6:33 am and is filed under Bootleg Theater. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.