Have you ever made it a few songs into an album and said to yourself, “I know how the rest of this album is gonna sound.”? This tends to happen with me a lot when exploring new releases within the death metal realm. At a certain point, no matter how “sikk” an up and coming band is, you seriously need to ask the question, “What is this band going to bring to the table that hasn’t already been perfected 30+ years ago?” The answer to that question is “Nothing.” Most of these bands are one trick ponies. It’s just a matter of how well said band performs said trick.
In the case of Spanish death metal trio Sepulchral, they specialize in a brand of death metal that can best be described as a head on collision of Autopsy’s maggot riddled riffage and Entombed’s crusty aggression. Their penchant for gory sloppiness reminiscent of early deathgrind prevents their debut album, From Beyond the Burial Mound, from being a full blown Left Hand Path ripoff à la Gatecreeper’s Sonoran Depravation (2016). However, there’s no denying that the trendy, bearded, Decibel reading public will get a kick out of this release, or at the very least appreciate its aesthetic.
The album starts out rather strong, storming out of the gate with a ferocious Severed Survival-esque death thrasher, “Harbor of Drifting Souls”. The putrid “Ceremony of Putrefaction” balances the band’s influences evenly: one part thrash, one part crust, all parts death. This crust influence only becomes stronger as the album progresses. For example, if the riffs of “Sepulchral Fumes” didn’t have such weight to them, this could pass as a Discharge worship song. “Dis”, I mean, this influence also appears on tracks like “Cursed Epitaph” and the d-beat devastation of “Caravan of Putrid Flesh”.
On the metal side of things, the “blink and you’ll miss it” blitz of “Coffin Miasma” displays many Slayer-isms in its brief 2 minute runtime. This is too be expected as a band of their stature is bound to sneak into every extreme metal release in some form or another. The same can be said for Celtic Frost, whose painfully misanthropic doom riffs are utilized at the beginning of “Tombstone Thrower”, as well as the closing track, “Eyes Like Burning Catacombs”. I assume this, plus a smattering of Gothenburg style soloing, is supposed to represent the stylistic diversity of this outing. It definitely makes things slightly more interesting in the long run.
While I enjoy From Beyond the Burial Mound for what it is, I’m not sure if I see myself returning to it anytime soon. Sepulchral has a long way to go in the songwriting department before establishing themselves as a major force in the underground death metal scene. That said, this potential for growth will certainly keep me on the lookout for album #2, whenever that day may be. Until then, “OUGH” on my friends.
5 out of 10
Label: Soulseller Records
Genre: Death Metal
For fans of: Entombed, Autopsy, Celtic Frost