ALBUM REVIEW: Sepulcros – Vazio

Portuguese Death-Doom Metallers SEPULCROS are set to unveil their debut album via Transcending Obscurity Records on March 21st.

Unnerving samples begin the record with a simple but foreboding approach, hopefully indicative of the monolith that lurks in the not so distant horizon. Crushing riffs and chiming cymbals lurk forth from the abyss with immediately funereal soundscapes of charnel brutality. Guttural vocals seep through the ether to greet the daunting and melancholy instrumentals, dragging out a wickedly intoxicating ambience of misery and solitude. The Death Metal elements to this music are obvious in the heaviness while the sparse sounds are clearly taking most of their cues from Funeral Doom. This does not mean that we don’t get some charging adrenaline however as the building monstrosity lurches into titanic, sludgy and downright ferociously heavy sections that are dropped with merciless density upon us. Blastbeats seem to come from nowhere, a technique used more than once as a vitriolic spew of Blackened Death Metal barbarity staunchly erupts from the doomy atmospherics to deliver a punishing and discordant array of horrors from a contrasting perspective. It is clear in the earlier parts of this record that we are in for a diverse and unique listen.

Groaning with an ethereal and devastating presence of spectral energy that is delivered with a pungent concoction of Black, Death and Doom Metal, each sound taking an important section of a greater picture. The sheer might of the overall sound is impeccable in itself, but when met with superb musicianship and most of all terrific songwriting, we see a juggernaut of despairing yet unforgiving Extreme Metal unfurl into something gorgeous yet terrifying before our very eyes. The hopelessness is conveyed insightfully yet with a bitterly savage aggression that often comes to the surface before skulking back into the darkness as atmospheric passages draw out sombrely upon layers of brilliant riffs and pondering drums. The vocals that deliver this ghostly apparitions’ voice remind me of Eye Of Solitude with the intense, very low and snarling growls biting through the murky instrumental layers in an incredibly suitable way, accentuating the darkness in unison with the guitars and drums. A masterful approach has clearly been developed into this sound with careful and precise craftsmanship.

Between the intro and outro, both of which certainly fulfil their purpose at giving the release a welcoming and a sense of finality as a work of art, we hear 4 lengthy pieces of music. Each clocks in at around 8 minutes and has a fluid transcendence from one to the next, while the individual pieces contain a lot of key elements and nuances which are built upon and grow with a lively and natural sense of progression. It is abundantly clear that the ideas flowed forth in an organic manner as there is never that feeling that the band has simply tried to cram in too many elements for their own good. Rather we see an urgent expression of doom through a multi-faceted approach to their monolithic brand of Extreme Metal. The booming bass and drums seem to open cavernous realms for the seething guitar riffs to penetrate alongside ground-shaking vocals, causing all to tremble before the mighty tomes of Sepulcros’ utterly magnificent debut.

Sepulcros have delivered a deathly, unearthly and unwieldy conjuration of incredibly Death-Doom packed with ethereal atmospherics, pulverising intensity and ingenious songwriting. A truly formidable recording of crushing music that must be witnessed for oneself. Certainly a must-listen release for those seeking funereal Death/Doom Metal that will leave them haunted and despairing.