There are plenty of bands that, as soon as you hear them, you know which other artists influenced their music. You could fill a three-day festival with bands that were inspired by Morbid Angel. Or Iron Maiden. Or Death. All of that is well and good, but when it comes down to it, you want to be able to pick out the players’ DNA and not their heroes’.
Spanish metal trio Totengott made their start as a Celtic Frost cover band, taking their name from a song by Triptykon, Tom Warrior’s latest creation. Even after they transitioned to creating their own songs, you still could hear a ton of their influence on debut offering “Doppelganger,” a pretty fitting title. It was a mighty record regardless, and as time has gone on, they’ve thrown more of themselves into the recipe. Their third record “Beyond the Veil” digs even deeper into the three people who comprise this band—vocalist/guitarist José Enrique Saavedra, bassist/backing vocalist Nacho Bernaldo, drummer/backing vocalist Jose Mora—morphing even further into their own monster, spreading that budding magic over these seven tracks and 44 minutes that show this band coming to life and establishing their own personality and wicked agenda.
“Inner Flame” starts basking in eerie sounds before the pace begins punishing, barked vocals activating your nerve endings. The pace flattens and bruises, crunchy, yet fiery playing increasing the temperatures, the guitars going off as morbid chaos is achieved. “Sons of the Serpent” has calls hovering overhead, dizzying singing, and the playing feeling through a thick cloud cover. The singing numbs as the playing glimmers, a mysterious aura thickening, trudging through a path of alien synth layers. “Marrow of the Soul” stomps through muddy terrain, punishing and galloping, the guitars scorching as the wails hammer. The playing mauls as the thrashiness increases, burrowing into filth as an acidic finish scorches flesh. “The Architect” is strange and ghostly, doomy playing thickening blood as off-kilter singing washes over. Ominous and scathing, a pall hangs over everything, hypnotic vocals spinning the atmosphere, bells chiming and signifying the end.
“Beyond the Veil Part I: Mirrors of Doom” is a mostly instrumental piece with strings glazing, and guest Marija Krstevska’s haunting singing getting into your blood. A haze hangs over and illuminates your pathway, leading into “Beyond the Veil Part II: Necromancer” that hammers away, acting like a bulldozer over loose terrain. The howls carve as the playing smothers, making it feel like you’re trying to breathe in a furnace, the vocals adding more forceful blows. Madness scars as the pace slowly winds down, setting in a pit full of soot. Closer “The Golden Crest (the Ritual, the Curse, the Path, the Light)” runs 13:33, and chilling group chants greet you, the playing chugging as they build a mood, a strange cult-like feel hanging overhead. Burly leads scald as growls echo, the body easing into a strange sound bath, steely and doomy, dragging you into nightmare terrain. Doom bells chime as the skies darken, strange horns call into the distance, and misery spreads, finally relenting as the end draws near, pulling you into the mystery of night.
While Totengott may have their original roots in homage to the great Celtic Frost, this band has expanded past their initial influences into a full-bodied machine that’s making some of the more interesting waves in heavy music. “Beyond the Veil” proves the ambition and building blocks laid by their first two records were building to this, a place where they add even more of their own flesh and blood into their recipe as they hurtle toward the void. There’s no escaping the menace and drama plastered all over this record, and it’s nice to see them develop into a more formidable beast flooding with potential.
For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/totengottmetal
To buy the album, go here: https://hammerheartstore.com/collections/vendors?q=Totengott
For more on the label, go here: https://www.hammerheart.com/
Meat Mead Metal 