Adding to the ever-growing list of bands with a similar name, we have Sepulchral from Spain today. I apologize for sounding a bit negative at the onset concerning the band’s moniker, but it in no way reflects on the band itself. Quite the opposite of the fact, because I really do enjoy the output from this group.
I became aware of the band from their ‘Graveyard Repugnance’ EP, and then ‘From Beyond the Burial Mound’ debut full-length is what really grabbed me by the short and curlies and became a consistent staple of my day-to-day listening pleasures. The band’s form of groovy death n roll is like an amalgam of Dismember, Cianide, and a bit of Autopsy, but with that rolling, bouncing chug that really gets you thrashing about your room.
The band also has a predominant D-beat rhythm, and that is what, to my ears, really carries their sound and sets them apart from the glut of expected Entombed, Feral, Entrails clones that permeate the genre. While obviously, as I stated in my description, the sonic groundwork is there, Sepulchral just grabs you differently in their songwriting. Take the time to listen to the title track and ‘Abandoned Feretrum’ and track 6 ‘Cloaked Spectres’, and you can get an earful of what I’m talking about. Their particular sound just burrows into your brain and lingers there. Even when the stop button has been pushed, and you go about your day-to-day activities, that sound and or the predominant bass-forward rhythm along with the guitar interplay will linger with you.
Mastermind and bassist/vocalist, ‘Dusk’ has put together a crew that helps to express his particular form of Death ‘n Roll. The interplay between the drums and bass is tighter than a frog’s posterior and is the main draw, helping create a sound that pulls you in and keeps you coming back for more. (well, for me at least) This is not to say the guitars play second fiddle because they do offer a dynamic quality as well. The riffing accentuates the groove and plays just outside the bottom end.
Now granted, I slightly prefer their previous full-length over this release because of the slightly more raw and live feel in the sound from that album. That D-beat rhythm in the songwriting seems to be much more prominent at that time. This album has a bit of a better production, and you can see that songwriting has improved to be more cohesive and, dare I say, dynamic. Much of the material still grabs you in much the same way, but there is a maturity at play here, I think. It could be that the band was criticized for maybe being too one-dimensional in the past, so a bit of variation has been introduced into the overall sonic structure. Tracks ‘Torchless Crossroads’ & ‘From the Crypts, A Putrid Mist ‘ give credence to this fact with more of a moody and melodic sections that ease off that stomp and offer more emotion in its presentation.
I will be traveling to Spain soon, and I really hope to catch the band live and to see if they can carry over the same energy and fervor in a live setting. If you need your metal with a bit more “jump” to go with your morning coffee, you can not go wrong with this release.
