Spanish black metal legends Teitanblood return with their latest ritual offering From the Visceral Abyss. They’re following the same path from their previous release, heavy and transcendent, thick ritualistic atmosphere and punishing instrumentals that crushes weak listeners under their might.
Why change the formula if nothing is broke? The band continues to go down the same path that The Baneful Choir had started. The noisy ambient additions are heavier and thicker this time around, with the swirling and dissonant riffs seem almost endless through out this release. It’s as if each song twists and contorts into each other with the only breaks being those haunting ambient passages. Those ambient passages seem to get darker and darker, with thick walls of noise that transform into roaring guitars and punishing blast beats. It’s rather addicting to listen too, just like all their other albums.
There seems to be a trend with their releases, sounding cleaner as the years go by. With their first release, Seven Chalices, it was incredibly raw, sounding more like the last vestiges of Proclamation which Teitanblood spawned from its ashes. It’s style was much more punishing and in the vein of classic war metal. With the following releases, the production is cleaner and cleaner, with it now sounding razor sharp and very detailed. No muddying up the sound here, each instrument is easily digestible, being able to pick it out from the lineup, making the album as a whole a lot easier to listen to.
With the underground scene now being much more used to harsher and heavier sounds, this album feels like a much more appealing release to the wider scene. The album feels safe, almost too safe for them. I’m so used to this band pushing boundaries and creating incredibly devastating and punishing metal, but maybe the market is oversaturated and I’ve became to used to it, it seems almost predictable. It’s still an intense experience that is incredibly well made and well written by these blackened death masters. This would certainly be an album for those who are willing to venture forth into the heavier side of the extreme for the first time. Punishing, but somewhat forgiving. A solid release but not one of my favorites by them.