Four-and-a-half years on from the release of their seminal third album, …And As We Have Seen The Storm, We Have Embraced The Eye, CHAPEL OF DISEASE have become one of the most interesting acts not just within the German death metal scene but also across Europe. This was the album, after all, where the band managed to fully crystallise their excellent blend of progressive death metal and sultry hard/space rock, establishing themselves as an incredibly promising and imaginative act that were on the cusp of crafting their magnum opus. Their latest, fourth record, Echoes Of Light, sees the Cologne-based trio develop their already layered and adventurous sound even further, trimming away what little fat there was to and accentuating their style’s many strengths, resulting in arguably their best work to date.
Echoes Of Light kicks proceedings off in epic fashion, with soaring guitars, cavernous drums and domineering bass creating a monolithic, spacey sound. It draws more heavily from hard rock with subtle progression, with only the coarse bark of the vocals and an angular, chaotic section towards the track’s conclusion anchoring this in extreme metal. It’s incredibly eclectic, weaving from one brilliant hook to the next with ease and keeping the listener enthralled, whether it’s the tight, punchy riffs or the nebulous, ethereal passages, starting this record with an exceptionally stunning opening salvo that sets the creative bar precipitously high.
A Death Though No Loss takes the music down a more driven route, with bombastic heavy metal-inspired guitars and a quicker, urgent pace lending this a darker, fiercer edge, without straying too far from the hazy overtones that defined the preceding song. There’s excellently intricate and imaginative guitar work, and the punishing rumbling bass and searing vocals that underpin them emphasise just how diverse this band’s sound truly is, making this every bit as dramatic and awe-inspiring as the title track. Shallow Nights opts for a subdued, bluesy sound with slick, melodic guitars, haunting clean vocals and reserved rhythms, accentuating the vast, expansive sound that was present on the opener and using it to full effect. Huge, bombastic synths begin to creep into the music as it enters its second half, further playing to the underlying space rock influence, practically doing away with the harsher elements entirely and allowing the expansive, grandiose parts of the band’s sound carry this track.
Where the first three tracks were sprawling, the final three are much punchier, though nonetheless adventurous. The first of these, Selenophile, possesses some incredibly energetic guitar and drum performances, with the musical approach shifting towards a classic rock sound, with reverb-drenched moments and visceral, snarling vocals injecting lots of atmosphere and venom into the mix, at times blending together the death metal and rock influences more seamlessly than earlier efforts. Gold / Dust, with its crystalline guitar tone and huge, swampy ambience courtesy of the synths, is another great piece of music that borrows from both prog and space rock. It establishes itself as one of the album’s most immersive and catchy tracks, with the fantastic, animated guitars and ghostly vocals being amongst the best work on this album, shifting the core influences slightly and revealing another magnificent layer to the band’s sound.
An Ode To The Conqueror takes the confident hard rock sound that has hung over many of the previous five tracks and leans prominently into it, with dancing guitars, thunderous drums and airy, atmospheric touches informing the overall sound and shedding any hints of death metal entirely, creating one last, epic slab of brooding prog rock that is very hard not to get completely engrossed in, and bringing things to a close in a brilliantly grand way.
There are plenty of cases of bands trying to blend together two contrasting styles with often weak or downright abysmal results, but with Echoes Of Light, CHAPEL OF DISEASE have managed to strike that fine balance and create an album that is genuinely stunning in its musical scope and world class songwriting. If …And As We Have Seen The Storm, We Have Embraced The Eye was the album that put the band on the map internationally, this is the album that not only maintains that fan attention and critical acclaim, but also cements the band’s place as one of death metal’s most creative outfits, doubling down on the many strengths of its predecessor and expanding on some of its most intriguing ideas. With albums like this, CHAPEL OF DISEASE are taking death metal, and indeed hard rock, into far more impressive and awe-inspiring territories, establishing more thoroughly the band’s trademark sound and growing their already considerable legend.
Rating: 9/10
Echoes Of Light is out now via Ván Records.
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