ALBUM REVIEW: Xibalba Itzaes – Ah Tza Xibalba Itzaes

Today I review the upcoming and extremely long awaited 2nd full length release from Mayan themed Black Metallers Xibalba Itzaes. Set for release on December 15th this year via underground legendary label Nuclear War Now Productions!

1. Ah Tza! comes straight in, with grim and dissonant Black Metal assaults. The brutal attack of the guitars, bass and drums is incredibly raw but completely audible, with tones that sound like early 90s Norwegian Black Metal. The vocals are superb with a really crisp touch to the screams and the use of some lower growls to mix things up. The track itself is fast paced and really well written with a cool bass/drum solo and really bleak soundscapes.
2. Intro All Hail Chaac is simply a short chanted and ambient introduction to the next track, it works really well.
3. All Hail Chaac follows from the opening track in the levels of maddening dissonance, blasting drums and statically distorted riffs. The certainly tribal influence on the actual structures works really well in a Black Metal atmosphere. The band have both primal aggression fuelling the music, but well paced and thoughtful songwriting talents, landing this gristle melting blow with full haste.
4. Rituals In The Sun slows the pace, with drawn out more dismal guitar riffs, crashing drums and morbid howls aplenty. The demonic guitar tones are really harsh but it works excellently to create a wall of noise with the vocals and drums. The funeral march pace about 1/3 of the way though feels so depressingly cold and really hits hard. The incredibly harsh gutturals sound truly possessed, absolutely awesome stuff. This track is the longest of the album which works really well with its dragging, melancholic feel perfectly. The track ends in more upbeat, Black n Roll style with a true Carpathian Forest feel to everything about it. From the howled snarl of the vocals, up beat rock n roll drums all the way through to the scooped tinny simplistic riffs. I really love this style and it breaks the album into variety nicely.  The drum solo before the outro is really badass and eerie too! Amazing work.
5. Throughout The Equinox kicks the full speed, blackened assault right in. The lead guitar work sounds really haunting and in your face, draped carefully over abysmally chaotic rhythm sections. The guitar solo is a furious attack of the frets and a cool addition to the track. Killer!
6. The Storm Of Giala follows suit with plentiful classy and raw Black Metal riffs, awesome drum fills and a beautifully done transitions between sections. This is perfect for fans of classic Black Metal who like it raw, primal and full of real passion rather than something studio polished meant for the masses. This music may not be outwardly profound, but honouring their native American ancestry with such great Heavy Metal music to me is an awesome way of preserving their fascinating heritage. The menacing, doomy and completely spectral riffs in their fully drawn out discordant manners working beautifully among the more sluggish and yet incredibly atmospheric track. This is how I would believe the original visions for the future of Black Metal would look.
7. Nine Steps Below has some absolutely incredible sounding tribal drums and ambience, it really adds to the feel of the album perfectly. The chaotic musical onslaught comes back in excellent form once more with incredibly fast paced yet draggingly gruesome maniacal Black Metal. The traditional drums in the background are really hauntingly beautiful and certainly add a lot to the spirituality of the song. This song has to be my favourite of them all so far. Beautifully done!
8. Dawn Of Endless Horrors fires us with more classic riffing, dismal guitar notes drawn out and thundering bass. The drums are perfectly punctuating every element of the music while the seething vocals crawl over each line with a combination of malice and gruelling fury that sounds absolutely glorious. Absolutely awesome riffs nearer the end too, really heavy sounding and punchy among the bleaker surroundings. Another great piece!
9. Ekab opens with grandiose chords, gorgeous sampling and a much less aggressive feel to it. The huge atmospherics are stunning and the song feels like it could take any direction. The folkier lead work and rhythm of the song is a very interesting and well used change in the albums already diverse mixture of style. The songwriting is absolutely awesome, while being a bit rough around the edges and grisly, it’s a really captivating song throughout and definitely the most laid back.
10. The Owl comes in with reinvigorated fury. The sombre riffs coupled with insanely fast drums and hideously churned out vocals work excellently. The song feels like if you take a band like Nargaroth, add tons of aggression and more lead work. Awesome, unique and greatly executed music, once more I am impressed by this album!
11. Ah Tza Xibalba Itzaes is a short, incredibly creepy and very ambient sort of interval in the album, not the first either. It adds so much to the atmosphere using pieces like this for these very conceptual and visualised albums.
12. Katun II (The First Chronicle) ends the album. It does so by following on from the previous track, opening with more tribal sounds and a haunting feel once more. The ending samples are really disturbing somehow, a great way to close an album that really feels more like it is telling a story than just random music.

First up, I must say the Mayan theme of the album is very well researched from what I can tell, with the feel of it being very captured and intriguing. Secondly, the music is absolutely killer. Really raw and gnarly old school Black Metal with great song structures and atmosphere. Finally it all flows together really nicely, making for a great release! I must say I found it interesting how much less thrashy it is than other South American bands, not at all a bad thing, in fact it’s great to see a band standing out from their peers so much! Great work throughout! -7.5/10