Corpsessed may have crawled out of their decrepit and maggot infested casket in 2007, but “The Dagger & The Chalice” is the only release I know from the band that has been produced. Why the hell did it take four years for a label to pick up Corpsessed? Seriously. This is absolutely crushing old-school death metal at its finest. I haven’t heard an album destroy this hard since Funebrarum‘s side of the split they did with Interment back in 2007, “Conjuration Of The Sepulchral.” This EP reeks of old-school Swedish death metal, but these Fins know how to make it their own; the melodic leads are utterly ghoulish when on top of the deafening and plodding rhythm guitar, unholy growls and tortured screams with the perfect amount of reverb behind them, and an atmosphere that would spook a graveyard.
With six songs that spans almost 23:30, you are in for a devastating ride with Corpsessed. After a terrifying 3 minute instrumental introduction, the real magic begins, as a thunderous growl and pinched harmonic lead destroy your speakers in “Crypt Infester.” It is all over after that. I was down for the count; Corpsessed have pure gold sitting in this EP, as every single track on it has the same perfectly haunting aesthetic that most “dark” bands could only ever dream of achieving. “Nameless Cult,” “Altar Of Maggots,” “Massgrave,” and “The Dagger & The Chalice” will never leave one feeling underwhelmed when it comes to satisfying their death metal craving. Corpsessed better be around for a long time, or else I am going to be really, really pissed, because these guys have hit their stride and should keep galloping at full speed.
Originally written for Metal Blast (http://www.metalblast.net/).
Swedeath versus Finndeath. It’s an age old battle of epic proportions. The Swedish variant of death metal is more melodic, more popular, and has that traditional buzzsaw sound that’s practically fucking trademarked (and good filler in every review). Bands like Entombed, Dismember, and Grave pioneered the style, which gradually became a virtually a new classification of death metal; many bands from other countries play “Swedish death metal” despite coming from like, fucking Czech Republic, ie Morbider. On the other hand, the lesser known bands from Finland are what tickled my pickle, being slower, more interesting sounding, and just flat out creepier. Bands like Funebre, Demigod, and Rippikoulu all give me a hefty three quarter chub. So when I heard about Corpsessed’s new EP “The Dagger and the Chalice,” I immediately put down the lube and the hacksaw and tuned in for a listen. And boy was that a good move.
Corpsessed is a 5-piece Finnish death metal band (they only had four members on this release though) formed in 2007 and so far has only released this 23 minute, six track EP. They have members of cult classic bands Wormplegm and Murderaim filling out their ranks. Their influences include but are certainly not limited to Entombed, Deicide, Grave, Incantation, and Immolation, among many others I’m sure. I hear traces of Slugathor and Demigod in some of the riffs as well. They take the classic Finnish, doomish sound and combine it with the Incantation worship that is so prevalent today in the works of bands like Vasaeleth and Ignivomous. It’s a brilliant pairing that makes for an amazing sound.
The cover art is a black, gray and white piece with a dagger and some other scary shit, so you should know exactly what this is gonna be. And the fact that it was released on Dark Descent doesn’t take Nancy cocksucking Drew to figure out that this is old school death metal. The production is downright unholy. It sounds like they ripped open a gigantic demon’s asshole, recorded it in there, and left said asshole charred and ravaged by the sheer force of blasphemy and badassery. It’s retro sounding in the tone of everything, where everything is cavernous and massive sounding, but also has a modern touch because everything is brilliantly mixed and all instruments can be heard.
The guitars are like most everything on Taco Bell’s menu: massive and crunchy. The generally stick to the mid-paced power chorded riffs, you know the kind. Palm-muted, groovy, headbangable. The riffs are all very well constructed and have an ominous, dark feeling driving them. Often, they’ll throw in a very slow section akin to Incantation, and the intro track is bordering on funeral doom in its tempo. When they do decide to speed up, they perform Demigod-esque tremolo picked riffs impeccably, which adds much to the atmosphere. The leads are entirely minor scales over the riffs simply to add the eeriness. Solos are nonexistent, but I feel as if they would only get in the way, so maybe that’s a good thing. The bass follows neatly under the guitar, doing nothing terribly impressive, just adding to the deeper than fuck low end this album utilizes so well.
The vocals are deep without being slammishly guttural, much like the early 90’s Finnish bands. Powerful, deep roars that magnificently convey the feeling of being buried and/or consumed are the norm here. The drums are mixed well enough to be heard, but never overwhelm the guitars thankfully. The bass drum sound is bassy and yet high enough to power through the mix. The drummer rarely blasts, mainly opting for double bass driven beats and an occasional skank blast. But when he does blast, it’s done tightly and certainly not overly fast. His style is tasteful and well executed. His fills are managed well, and cymbal use is variable, not just jacking off on the high-hat the whole time.
All in all, this is a very well done debut, and I hope and pray that this is simply a preview of what Corpsessed can do. They have so much potential and I absolutely can’t wait for them to put out new material…even though this is only a few months old. Get this if you are into early 90s Finndeath or any of the new wave of old school death metal.
Standout Tracks:
Crypt Infester, Massgrave
When it rains blood, it floods viscera, and such could be said for the initiative of Dark Descend records in snapping up a pair of promising Finnish elite to help usher forth the tsunami of guts inherent in the exploration of classical death metal components. Corpsessed are a bit more rugged and raw than the other acquisition, Gorephilia, and they draw more directly from their Finnish predecessors like Demigod and Demilich, though one can also distinctly hear the influence of the Swedes Entombed and Grave, and a bit of the old, pervasive Incantation depth. The Dagger & The Chalice EP is their first official output, though the members have been involved in other obscure productions prior to this.
Like a lot of the old school crop, Corpsessed open with a ghastly intro that draws the listener directly into a sluggish, subterranean mood, and they do it with tortured, funeral guitars and resonant growls that echo off the roof of melodic feedback as the drums slowly escalate into a double bass hammering. A good setup, and "Crypt Infester" follows with a slightly chaotic mesh of roiling grooves that seem an unholy collaboration of Entombed, Demilich & Disharmonic Orchestra between bursts of harrowing acceleration. It's decent, but much better are the blunt and unforgiving "Nameless Cult" or the dense, fibrous menace of "Altar of Worms". I wasn't so much into "Massgrave", I found its central, swaggering groove dull by comparison to the others, but the Finns compensate with the closer, the curious title track, ominous ambiance morphed into a grating, brutal death clamor.
Easily, this will be another band that sates the tastes of those enamored to the new wave of old. Fancy the cavernous criteria of Innumerable Forms, Evangelist, Vasaeleth, Gorephilia, Sonne Adam or any number of modern translations of the too-soon forgotten sphere that was atmospheric death in the 90s? Then I'm sure you are not going to find much disappointment with The Dagger & the Chalice. The production is immense and oppressive, the majority of the songs deliver enough dynamic punishment to never grow tired. About the only thing lacking here would be the truly memorable riffs it takes to thrust death metal into infinity, but on atmosphere alone it succeeds.
-autothrall
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