CoC : The Chasm - Procession to the Infraworld : Review

The Chasm - _Procession to the Infraworld_
(Dwell, 2000)
by: Paul Schwarz (9 out of 10)

I knew they could do it, and they have. _PttI_ fulfils the seeds of expectation sown by The Chasm's recent demo [CoC #43] and 1998's _Deathcult for Eternity: The Triumph_ album [CoC #40]. It is an improvement musically on the latter, and has been tweaked perfectly to assure a far superior production to the former, a production which brings out all of The Chasm's various aspects in powerful balanced harmony. What makes The Chasm special in this age of Gothenburg over-melody and American anti-melodic stalwartism is their talent for creating death metal of the brutal variety which doesn't forsake melody and, most importantly, retains the dark atmospheres so important to the genius of great death metal works, from Autopsy to early Entombed. Opening with the gathering storm of an introduction, "The Spectral Sons of the Mictlan", _PttI_ runs through a number of good tracks before coming to its crowning achievement, "Return of the Banished". This track is a perfect example of all of The Chasm's strengths interacting dynamically to form a crushing and moving whole of a song. The Chasm are one of the few bands able to thrash the listener mercilessly and darkly while not forsaking melody. Their occasional bouts of Dismember-like (think "Dreaming in Red" particularly) solos with melodiously dark atmospheric power and their use of subtle acoustics, minor scales and Daniel Corchado's (he of Incantation's _Diabolical Conquest_) despair-ridden vocals all add up to a crushing and haunting piece of modern death metal, and a great record to start the new year, century and millennium.

(article published 15/1/2000)

CHATS
1/9/2002	P Schwarz	The Chasm: Is the Deathcult Damned?
12/10/1999	P Schwarz	The Chasm: Diabolical Deathcultic Devastation

ALBUMS
14/1/2002	P Schwarz	9.5	The Chasm - Reaching the Veil of Death
15/6/1999	P Schwarz	9	The Chasm - Deathcult for Eternity: The Triumph
12/8/1996	A Wasylyk	8	The Chasm - From the Lost Years

DEMOS
12/10/1999	P Schwarz	5	The Chasm - Promo 1999