Wow, 10/10 review from our friends at imhotep in Norway
www.imhotepzine.com
THE CHASM The Spell Of Retribution (2004) Wicked World/Tuba AS
(10/10 Points)
These days Death Metal can be just so much, as I wrote in the Death Du Jour review. But no matter how you execute your version of extreme Death Metal, in the end all that matter is what you feel exactly when you listen to the album. Its cool to remember something from the music you like, however I cant really say it is an important factor since your head will always make up an own version of the same song you think you remember. You probably miss some details, maybe a little hit on the left cymbal, or even the lead-guitars melody that is just slightly different compared to the basic rhythms.
So, what do you feel when you listen to the album in question? Maybe you remember something nice you were doing the last time you heard the album? Maybe you were doing your dishes? Or even, could be you just sat there, reading an excellent book about Satan and God and flowers, and having a time of your life? When I listen to The Spell Of Retribution I feel total darkness. Its like The Chasm do their uttermost just to please my dark desires. The Chasm do not play Death Metal, they are Death Metal with only capital letters as in DEATH METAL. I mean, just take one single listen to the last three minutes of Conqueror & Warlord. When other lesser Death Metal bands would choose to end the amazing mid-paced section after just a minute, The Chasm go the whole nine yards, just building and building the track towards the end. Its so goddamn heavy, you wont believe it.
The Chasm have one main difference compared to all other Death Metal bands, since they choose to lengthen their tracks quite a bit. The shortest song, except for the introduction From The Curse, A Scourge<sum>, is just closing in at 5 minutes. Fortress is also the most straightforward damnation, and in that manner deserves to be this<sum>, ahem, short. Not much of a surprise then, when the following intricate Retribution Of The Lost Years (I, The Pathfinder III) is close to 8.06 minutes. A funny thing, if you really pay notice, is something that happens after exactly 1.37 minutes and lasts for 10 seconds. I dont really know if it an electric acoustic guitar that is hidden in the mix, but I had to hear the album 21 times before I noticed it. Ahhh, such small details make my life worth living.
The Chasms <sum>Retribution is a lengthy bastard. Each track has its moment, and most of the tracks have their momentS. I mean, normally a Death Metal track has the first verse, chorus, second verse, a cool bridge part before they repeat the first verse and chorus yet again. Thats of course fine if your band is named Death, but The Chasm deliver a <sum>Spell<sum> that just keeps coming up with new riffs all the time. As the label says: <sum>with a riff count per song that would form an entire albums worth for most bands<sum>, and it is actually completely accurate.
I wonder, are you, the reader, bored now by all my words? Well, since the playing time for this DEATH METAL album is 66 minutes, I assume I should continue for another two<sum>, well, verses.
1. Verse
The Chasm are Real Death Metal
Playing the shit out of me
Theyre better than everyone else
Thats just so easy to see
2. Verse
If youre dying for Death Metal
You better get their album now
If not youre a piece of shit
And then you shall bow
Chorus
The Chasm are here to kill
Everyone in their path
Real Death Metal upon the world
The Spell of Retribution
And then I havent mentioned their excellent dark sound, their fine solos, that this album is a grower nor that their highest moment of darkness, namely the epic The Eclipse: Monument To The Empire, has the a fantastic part lasting for 20 seconds, appearing after 1.37 minutes into the track.
The Spell Of Retribution is a fantastic album by a band with an identity.
(Roy Kristensen)