It was recently discussed over at the teethofthedivine forums what “Evil Death Metal” is and examples to recommend. Seven Chalices, the debut full length album from Spain’s Teitanblood was one of the recommendations. And rightly fucking so, as Seven Chalices literally reeks of pure, ritulaistic evil and debased, chaotic misanthropy.
For those of you sick of clicky, triggered, over produced, polished death metal or deathcore, the black/death metal ichor that is Teitanblood is the cure to all your ills. And if you consider yourself a fan of Coffins, Necrovation, Dead Congregation, Dagon, Portal, Mitochondrion, Incantation and such, Seven Chalices and its sickly, occult take on black/death metal should appeal to your depraved senses.
Armed with a icky, almost sloppy production that reminded me of the early Nihilist days mixed with Incantation’s early work, Teitanblood’s ritualistic throes are death metal by structure, but with unintelligible higher register echoed rasps (along with some horribly monstrous, layered growls and grunts) of vocalist bassist ‘Iniquitous Templar of Iron Black Faith and Deathrapist Redemption’ (Manuel or Juan just isn’t very evil sounding), and the more occult themes and truly creepy interludes, there’s a malevolent black metal undercurrent.
The filthy but cavernous production gives the material an aura of primal chaos and murky, other-worldy menace, especially in the blast beats, where the drums are nigh indecipherable, blending with the down tuned guitars into a muddy rumble. When the band do slow into scrawling, slower, pus and chant filled crawl, Autopsy comes to mind, but with with less scat and more pure, Satanic insidiousness. The squealing solos are less solos but more sonic fissures in time and space, rending your sanity as tracks like “Domains of Darkness and Ancient Evil”, “Infernal Dance of the Wicked” and the oozing, 12 minute “The Abomination of Desolation” ravage your senses. And that’s the songs. Throw in the intro (“Whore Mass”) and four interludes (“Interlude (Arabian title)”, “Interlude (Sanskrit title)”, “Interlude (Cuneiform title)” and “Qliphotic Necromancy” and you get the soundtrack to candle lit, orgiastic necromancy, ritual sacrifice and demon worship of the most perverted and vile order.
Arguably one of the most tangibly evil records I’ve heard in quite some time, Seven Chalices is not for the weak minded or weak willed.
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Absolutely filthy. I normally don’t go in for this stuff, but after hearing one track, I had to listen to another and then another, and so on to the final track. It’s like trying not to look at a car wreck: You just have to see how gruesome it gets–out of curiosity or who knows what. My favorite parts are the solos, for sure. They’re totally unhinged, like “sonic fissures in time and space”– that’s a badass line. Nice review.
on Apr 30th, 2009 at 13:32I adore this kind of bile soaked metal and these guys fit that sound to the T. One of the better albums of 2009 thus far and I’m sure it’ll end up on my top 10 list come December!
on May 1st, 2009 at 08:00Fantastic review for a fantastic album. This is surely not for the weak hearted! (read the review on Lords of Metal)
on May 7th, 2009 at 13:40Picked this up on your recommendation. It took a few listens for it to sink in, but this is some great, filthy oldschool death metal.
on May 24th, 2009 at 23:33This record sounds like its been produced in hell and recorded by zombies. Its a fucking must! 10/10
on Jun 6th, 2009 at 15:12Music is FUCKED UP, and the band seems pretty cool.
Interview: http://www.thelefthandpath.com/lefthandpath/index.cfm/event/read/entry/Interview_Teitanblood
on Jul 1st, 2009 at 08:36