Ritual Chamber – Obscurations (To Feast on The Seraphim) (Profound Lore Records. 2016).

Ritual Chamber – Obscurations (To Feast on The Seraphim) (Profound Lore Records. 2016).

Ritual Chamber are, in my opinion, the heir to Infester. Featuring former Infester member Dario Derna, this is terrifying Death Metal, drenched in darkness and evil that easily matches some of the malevolence found on Infester’s releases. As soon as you press play or put the needle on the record, you are treated to a disturbing introduction that sets the atmosphere well for the rest of the album, with what sounds like the audio recordings of someone possessed by demonic entities. When the music starts, it only increases the feelings of unease with you, as the Hellish presence magnifies with Into the Collective Coffin building up the tension for the first few minutes, before the vortex opens and you’re sucked into the Mouth of Hell. The torment continues with the second song, The Eternal Eye, which has some killer leads. The riffs are at points disorientating, and it feels as if you’re being carried along by a tidal wave crashing through winding underground tunnels of non-Euclidean geometry or as if you are circling the Abyss. The guitar tone sounds inhuman and spectral, which further amplifies the Otherworldly nature of the riffs themselves. The leads on the album again have this general, alien feel to them. As the album continues onward, it feels like you are on a journey through dimensions full of horrors that are not comprehendible to the human mind. Whether blasting or indulging in a more funereal dirge, the malevolence does not relent. The use of keyboards at points is masterful, such as in Bringer of Entropy, where it adds brilliantly to the song. There are some excellent more melodic sections, such as the haunting ending of The Aphotic Dread or the melancholic melody on A Parasitic Universe, which seems to capture a sense of isolation, all of which add their own unique flavour into the mix and act as a contrast to the swirling maelstrom of the rest of the riffs, thus enhancing both. The final track, As Dust And The Animal, is a fitting end to the album, as the menacing riffs take a disturbed break containing perverse cries around the 3:30 mark, before returning you to the swirling Abyss complete with shrieking, Hellish leads and a pipe organ and samples providing a suitably devilish outro. Despite the album being just short of an hour long, the song-writing is of such quality that you barely notice the length of the songs. This is a hypnotic, captivating piece of blackened Death Metal art and a strong contender for Death Metal album of the year. 8.75/10.