Chapel of Disease - Echoes of Light (2024)

I'd hate to repeat a comparison I've already made over my last couple Chapel of Disease reviews, but Echoes of Light once again walks a parallel course to Swedes Tribulation in pursuing a more accessible, moody and atmospheric sound quite farm removed from their death metal roots, while retaining the harsh vocals for their contrast value against the more ear-pleasing riffs. They had already mastered this with the last time out, and this album doesn't show quite as much a transition as that between its two predecessors, so there is a little bit of a vibe that the band were really feeling out where to go here. It's a bit shorter, still at six songs, and seems to focus on fleshing out some of same ideas while giving them some more breathing room.

None of this is 'experimental', but the way the songs are composed aren't reduced to the most basic verse chorus structures, they will fuel any melodic inkling at any time and pursue that to a glorious end, and those are honestly the better parts of this record in tunes like the titular opener or "A Death Through No Loss". The album is heavily leaning on bluesy leads, hard rock or classic heavy metal riffing patterns as well as some soothing acoustic sequences, and through all of this, the bass guitar is able to stick out more than ever, with some simpler and steadier grooves than the last record, but they really anchor all the adventurous noodling. But if you heard those calmer sections of "A Death Through No Loss" and then went back to listen through 2012's Summoning Black Gods, you wouldn't recognize the Germans as the same band. Even further, they are starting to implement some clean singing here ("Shallow Nights", "Gold/Dust") to go along with some of the bluesy, emotional moments. They don't seem too confident in that respect, however, and they wind up a little bit shoegaze, but they're not bad.

The production is glinting and clear, a little more bold than ...and As We Have Seen the Storm... and there are still lots of great guitar licks throughout, while the holdover of the harsh vocals definitely continues to make this feel like Tribulation if they had gone for a more classic hard rock basis rather than the Gothic (although a few sections here also give off that impression). All told, this one doesn't feel like a step back in vision so much, but quality for sure. The cleaner vocals don't really sell me yet, the cover art choice seems a little dull after a similar, swirly look on the last record, and I don't know that I enjoy the continued progress into lighter rock fare, perhaps because it's just not always catchy enough to justify that. On the other hand, it still has plenty of wondrous moments through the riffing, good bass, and it's not at all a chore to listen through. Growing pains, maybe, but still enjoyable.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

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Chapel of Disease - ...and As We Have Seen the Storm, We Have Embraced the Eye (2018)

The third Chapel of Disease full-length (don't expect me to type out the whole title) is probably a smaller stylistic transition than what we got between the first and second, but instead a further refinement of their dedication to crafting atmospheric and melodic material. They really dig in here with the songwriting, making the tracks slightly more varied and developing more emotional impact, while adding a few more hard rock or heavy metal touches (the bluesy lead in "Null"). The production on pieces like "Song of the Gods" or"Oblivious/Obnoxious/Defiant" is chef's kiss awesome, with more polish and layers to soothe the stereo-seeker, but at the same time, the vocals are quite consistent with The Mysterious Ways... and thus it stays mired in that underground death metal aesthetic they cultivated on the prior releases...I am once again reminded of Tribulation had they taken an alternate path from the weirdly proggy The Formulas of Death and not gone quite as goth.

I do love that band and all their directions, mind you, so I also love this one, and this is the record that I would first recommend anyone check out; it's the wealthiest in terms of riffs and pacing, with lots of escapism created through the guitar-work that matches up with the swirling skies of the cover art. The melody here might be too engraved into the band's skeleton for passionate advocates of the debut, but it's so tasteful and transformative that you can't imagine tunes like "Null" or "The Sound of Shallow Grey" without it. The bass playing also steps up a little, it's a little less frontal than the other guitars or vocals, but there are loads of little grooves that enrich the rest of the band, where I felt on the previous album it took a slight backseat. There are some who will probably find the vocal performance to hinder the rest, surely at this point most bands would incorporate a lot of clean singing to match the direction of the writing, but I actually respect that they held back and gave us the same raucous grunts as before.

Previously, I would have cited the sophomore as my favorite in the Chapel of Disease catalogue, only ...and As We Have Seen the Storm (still not typing it all) has been the one to grow upon me over the years and it's another of those sublime, thoughtful mutations on death metal that I'll spin with a similar anticipation and wonder as Opeth, Stargazer, Horrendous, Tribulation, or other bands that have spun out their roots into something captivating, where they might not have contributed as well to the genre if they had stuck more with the fundamentals. This one is well worth tracking down if you just enjoy great guitar work and adventurous, unpredictable songwriting, even if it's not ultimately creating the most unique riffs at every step of the journey. Underrated for sure.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

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Chapel of Disease - The Mysterious Ways of Repetitive Art (2015)

The Mysterious Ways of Repetitive Art seems like a pretty huge step forward for a sophomore outing, trading in the brash (if appreciable) old school death metal overtures of its predecessor for a more expansive, atmospheric, interesting experience without abandoning those same roots. There are structural similarities, this is not breaking the mold and transforming the medium into something necessarily new, but there's a constant vibe of the musicians losing themselves into the world they are creating with their instruments that is rare outside of a handful of other bands like Stargazer, Morbus Chron, maybe some modern Tribulation without the Goth, etc. It's a lot of death, a little doom metal, tremolo picked melodies, decent leads, and a little bit of reverb and airiness that foreshadow some of the even more progressive alterations they'd make in their sound to the future.

It's also a record which is catchy enough, but not so catchy that individual riffs or passages outshine its sum presentation. This is a roadmap with a lot of small details, like brief flurries of acoustic guitars that match up well to the doomy chords ("Masquerade in Red", "Symbolic Realms"), blackened barrages alternated with even more psychedelic, spooky clean guitar segues ("Life is But a Burning Being"), or even some blitzing death/thrash passages like those that populate the 10+ minute half of the 'titular' tracks that bookmark the disc. The vocals still possess the harshness of the debut record, but they also remind me of a more aggressive version of Johannes from Tribulation, that same atmospheric and blunt nihilism to the delivery which works well against either the more sinister or melodic instrumentation. The drums are another feature, rolling and thundering all over the panoply of riffs which are slathered in a stone that feels appropriately distorted but organic, punchy and impactful but also nestling right into the rhythm without blaring over anything else.

Chapel of Disease had discovered a means to take their sound into something more distinct than Summoning Black Gods, not that there was anything wrong with that debut sound, in fact some of the vocals on that record were a lot wilder and more memorable than these. But the production here, while certainly more laid back, just does a superior job at transporting the listener, peaking in the bridge lead melodies of "Lord of All Death" which completely hypnotized me. The Mysterious Ways is a far more balanced and immersive affair, regardless of whatever death metal cred it drops, and it shouldn't, because this record is still metal as hell, never overly polished and occasionally quite ominous, elevating them into one of the better German death metal acts with ease.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10]

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Chapel of Disease - Summoning Black Gods (2012)

Some part of me has to wonder: why all of this old school death metal lately? Do we fear the Mayan apocalypse so much that we must open a temporal gateway into those precious 1988-1993 moments and relive what for many of us must be the prime of our lives? Why not disco? Or West Coast gangsta rap? Okay, I might have gone a little too far. It's no surprise that Germans Chapel of Disease are yet another in a very long procession of acts to indulge their childhoods, and they do it with a very European flair, by which I mean they heavily channel the archaic sounds of Pestilence (and early Van Drunen-era Asphyx), Grave and Bolt Thrower into their compositions. Sure, you've also got a heavy dose of American elders Death, Possessed, Xecutioner/Obituary, Cianide and Autopsy which comes with the territory, but Summoning Black Gods more directly reminded me of an infernal conflagration between The Rack, Consuming Impulse, War Master and Into the Grave. And if that comparison just stirred up some excitement in your nether regions, well then...have at it.

Most of the techniques here are nothing special or inventive by any stretch of the imagination, but what the Germans do is inject a bit of vitality thanks to the rather raw production. This really feels like you've been zipped back to 1991 and saw that creepy looking metal tape in the window at the brick & mortar record shop and then counted your paper route profits in eager anticipation, only to be disappointed that that one other hardcore metal dude with the beat up Corvette and the mullet (who graduated a few years before you) already cleaned out the shop, with about ten others you might have wanted to purchase. The guitars are crunchy and clear but there is no attempt to overproduce anything. Summoning Black Gods is definitely attempting to evoke that narrow margin between thrash and death metal, so you've got some solid mid-paced violent antiquity in amongst the tremolo picked rhythms and slower, Bolt Thrower-styled, lamentation grooves and melodies. The riffs in the depths of "Descend to the Tomb" and "Hymns to the New Land" provide a living, breathing, wayback machine, and even when the band flirts with some death & roll rhythm ("Evocation of the Father"), etc, they do it with pretty good taste. In addition, the leads implemented on this debut are evil, airy and burst onto the scene like a luminous haunt flitting about a dark graveyard, not unlike old Entombed.

Paired with the ghastly Van Drunen impression that the vocalist here revels in, you've got yourself a genuine if derivative fright fest. His inflection is sort of a hybrid of what you'd remember from The Rack or Consuming Impulse, only with a little more echoing sustain that shadows the momentum of the churning guitars. The drums and bass have a loose but muscular feel to them, not all that interesting unto themselves but fully aligned with the retro feeling the album so desperately maintains. In terms of songwriting or individual riffs, there are not a lot here that reek of immortality, since they're just paying service to a long tradition of like sounding chords and notes, but there's no question Chapel of Disease love what they're doing, and the passion really turns what otherwise might feel like another spoke in the wheel of nostalgia to a full on haunted hot rod fuming spectral vapors and hemorrhaging hellfire in its wake. Summoning Black Gods is no marvel of greatness, but it knows and obeys its audience, so if you're the sort to keep his Autopsy and Asphyx vinyl dusted off and displayed, or you dig the recent efforts by groups like Horrendous, Skeletal Remains, Nocturnal Torment or Hail of Bullets, then I think you'll find that this belongs in your neck of the woods, like that old, foggy sepulcher that the local villagers feel strangely compelled to avoid...

Verdict: Win [7.25/10]

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