There is much to be said about the raw surrealistic brutality which Ch’Ahom diabolically explores throughout their debut full-length release, “Knots of Abhorrence.” The band’s sadistic blend of savage ritualistic bestial blackened death metal with mind bending progressive elements creates a vividly abhorrent tale that travels deep into the dark jungles where malevolent forces dwell amongst the ancient mysterious ruins.
What impressed me most from these German extreme metal musicians was how well they captured the album’s theme by incorporating some ritualistic tribal noises to create these haunting hallucinogenic moments right before they would launch into a brutal sounding blackened death metal onslaught. The monumental riffs sections mixed with the constant nerve shattering rhythms from the band’s insanely talented drummer, really establishes this violent and unpredictable extreme sounding atmospheres.
From the very beginning of this album until the end, each of the five tracks hooks you with such aggressively raw force. The profound sonic exploration into the ancient Mayan lore and ritualistic themes is what I picked up right away when I started listening to the first track, “Xibalba.” You become completely frozen with fear by the primitive drum sounds and ceremonial flutes as if you are walking into a spiritual ritual that begins to unfold into something even darker once the gritty guitar distortion slowly creeps in and eventually kicks into a monstrous death metal assault. Ch’Ahom does a really great job when pertaining to how they transition from the slow riff sections to the more intense arrangements where you feel as though you are being viciously torn apart as the music ruthlessly evolves.
The band's fiendish and horrifying extreme metal mindset continues on the second track, “Chavín de Huántar,” which is another pulverizing piece of metal music featuring some utterly deafening rhythms along with some insanely frantic guitar solos. The lead guitar playing throughout this album is another crucial factor in establishing such an unfathomably brutal sound, and in my opinion the lead parts on, “Path to Ixtab,” perfectly compliments the juggernaut sized riffs. “Path to Ixtab,” is an extraordinary bestial beatdown that contains some really agonizing arrangements which reminded me of bands like Beherit, Necrovore and Archgoat.
The final two songs on the album, “Knots of Abhorrence I and Knots of Abhorrence II,” are both solid tracks containing more fearsome riffs and decimating drum parts, yet the band keeps standing out amongst most modern metal bands by passionately pursuing their sinisterly creative vision. I really believe that the overall execution and production on the final two tracks solidifies this album as one of the best extreme conceptual releases to come out this year. Towards the end of, “Knots of Abhorrence II,” you start feel as though everything around you is imploding as the lead guitarist tears through these entropic sounding scales.
Sentient Ruin will be responsible for releasing this ritualistic blackened death metal beast upon the metal world, so make sure to mark your calendars for November 3rd when the album is to be released. “Knots of Abhorrence,” is a strong debut album and Ch’Ahom is a band that demonstrates some truly talented extreme music making skills. Also, the creativity that went into developing the album's lyrical themes is another reason why this album makes for a solid listening experience from start to finish. I highly look forward to how the band will build off of this album's strong execution and vivid lyrical themes on future releases, but for now I shall rejoice in the ceremonial sonic carnage that can be heard on this debut album.
Check out the track, "Knots of Abhorrence I," below:
Sentient Ruin Bandcamp:
https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/
Thanks!
ReplyDelete