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Review: The Chasm - The Spell of Retribution
The Chasm
www.facebook.com/TheChasm.Acerus
The Spell of Retribution

Label: Wicked World Records
Year released: 2004
Duration: 66:08
Tracks: 10
Genre: Death Metal

Rating:
5/5


Review online: March 3, 2005
Reviewed by: Sargon the Terrible
Readers' Rating
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Rated 4.38/5 (87.67%) (60 Votes)
Review

For their sixth full-length album the long-underground masters of 'The Metal Of Death' signed to Earache subsidy Wicked World, assuring that this superlative band will finally get the distribution and attention they deserve. The fear when a cult band like this moves to a bigger label is that the album they release will be somehow unworthy of them, but that is not the case here. The Chasm have been releasing groundbreaking Death Metal masterworks for a decade now, and I should not have doubted them for a moment. My only real question was: is this as good as the awesome "Comjuration Of The Spectral Empire"? At first I thought it was not quite as good, but after many, many listens I am assured that it is every inch as fine as its predecessor.

The Chasm have their own sound, and trying to describe their sprawling, epic, melodic style could drive you insane. They are very Death Metal – they may well define it – but they have a melodic songwriting approach that sounds like no other band. What most people miss is that The Chasm are very heavily influenced by old-school classic metal sounds, and their riffery has as much to do with old Bathory or even Sabbath as with more modern influences like Slayer or Morbid Angel. If it were not for the viciousness they bring to every song, one would almost accuse this band of being proggy, as they cram so damned much into every tune. They stack melodic licks and leads on top of the constant snarling rhythm work, the whole mixed expertly to sound both underground and perfectly balanced. No one sound predominates, and so the whole sound comes roaring out like a tropical storm – violent, inexorable, and utterly unpredictable. Standouts are hard to pick, as the album is unified, and flows from one song to another. After all, the title is meant to be taken literally – it isn't called "The Spell Of Retribution", it is the Spell of Retribution.

The Chasm is just one of those bands that nobody can imitate. They have taken all their influences and melded them into a unique whole that might as well be trademarked. This band just rules, and they have created an album that flows logically from their past works and yet does not feel like they are simply retreading old material. A marvelous album by a band that may finally be getting the laurels it deserves. Enter The Deathcult!

More about The Chasm...
Review: A Conscious Creation from the Isolated Domain - Phase I (reviewed by Michel Renaud)
Review: Conjuration Of The Spectral Empire (reviewed by Michel Renaud)
Review: Deathcult For Eternity... The Triumph (reviewed by Larry Griffin)
Review: Farseeing the Paranormal Abysm (reviewed by Michel Renaud)
Review: Procession To The Infraworld (reviewed by Larry Griffin)
Review: Procession To The Infraworld (reviewed by Michel Renaud)
Review: Reaching The Veil Of Death (reviewed by Michel Renaud)
Review: The Scars of a Lost Reflective Shadow (reviewed by Sargon the Terrible)
Review: The Spell of Retribution (reviewed by Larry Griffin)
Review: The Spell of Retribution (reviewed by Michel Renaud)
Interview with Daniel Corchado (Vocals/Guitar) on February 13, 2003 (Interviewed by Barbara Williams (Crowley))
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