The Spell of Retribution

It's difficult to go at long length when talking about The Chasm - it's one of those bands whose material could just be summed up by "This rules, just buy it. Now." This band has been releasing masterpiece after masterpiece for almost 10 years, and this sixth album (and first for Earache/WickedWorld) is no exception. The band's signature sound and atmosphere is still omnipresent: heavy aggressive guitars, drumming that's not overdone, and Daniel's out-of-this-world low growling vocals all mix together to create an evil-sounding, crushing dark atmosphere, in the same vein as what the band has served us starting with "Procession to the Infraworld". That is to say that the band's expert mix of aggression and melody is intact, but has not stagnated either, with the inclusion of more thrashy riffs, endless changes in pace, and an end result that is very epic-sounding at times. While many death metal bands focus on trying to be faster and "gorier" than the next, The Chasm distinguish themselves by crushing our skulls at more regulated speeds and cranking the heaviness a few notches.

Just buy the damn thing, will ya.