At this point in time, quite a few big changes happened to The Chasm. Corchado and Leon both moved to Chicago, where they would remain permanently. The other is that there was a very brief pause in activities as Corchado stepped in to perform vocal duties on Incantation’s Diabolical Conquest (coincidentally their best album imo) and some live shows with them. This didn’t last long and Corchado soon went to work on producing what is to me pretty much a flawless follow-up to ‘Deathcult’, ‘Procession to the Infraworld’.
In the grand scheme of The Chasm’s discography, ‘Procession’ might be the most straightforward and precise, clocking in at just over 40 minutes. The Thrash influence that had begun to creep up in ‘Deathcult’ is on full display here with the Doom portion very limited. Instead, there is an endless stream of riffs that are constantly thrown your way and go straight for the jugular.
Yet just because there’s been a dramatic change of approach, it doesn’t mean The Chasm have lost their essence at all. In fact, what is so impressive to me is how, despite the shorter length, all the songs retain that wondrous sense of adventure and rich atmosphere that we’ve seen in their previous work. None of the tracks here really follow a conventional songwriting approach, instead just continuing to borrow liberally from different genres to give us a tight and visceral experience, but also one that envelops you with its raw display of passion.
What has really played a favour to Corchado here is how well his sense of crafting guitar melodies has evolved. Once again demonstrating his abilities to weave from a wide set of influences to create some truly mind-blowing experiences. Just listen to the brilliant interludes in ‘At the Edge of the Nebula Mortis’ to get an idea, the way both guitarists interplay with one another and deliver both power and melancholic beauty. The solo work is impeccable as it fleshes out the songs, giving each track a grandiose and epic feel. What has also improved drastically is the production, no doubt a result of having to access to proper studios in the US which allow the instrumental passages to really shine and elevate the album in a way that they couldn’t with the first three.
All of this makes an album that is an emotional rollercoaster, exemplified by many tracks but perhaps none better than the closer ‘Storm of Revelations’. One moment you’re thrust into a frenzied storm of riffs and rapid-tempo drumming before being dosed with a blast of incredible dual guitar leads and mournful solos to close off what has felt like stepping into a portal of the underworld. I don’t think The Chasm are a particularly inviting band or easy to digest, which is why I always pick this album as the entry point for anyone who might be curious to check them out. It’s got everything that embodies their style, delivered in a decent duration but that somehow skims nothing. Just proof again of why this band deserves the cult status they get in the wider Death Metal underground.
