A tormented purgatory filled to its dimensional limits with spectres of disembodied, eviscerated and diseased corpses, all of ’em wailing down their foggiest recollections of the mayhem that’d struck before mass death. — Cancerous skulls, limb-chopping maniacs, septic innards exploding into noxious gaseous heaps amidst the violence of the insane… all driven by the cruel hand of death as Puerto Montt, Chile-based ‘old school’ death metal quartet Sepulcrum sharpen their scythe upon this classics inspired debut full-length album. ‘Lamentation of Immolated Souls‘ isn’t a knot to untie, a taxing task to explore, or a mystery to solve so much as it presents an exemplar study of traditional death metal at its most ex-thrashing peak beyond advent. In this sense it’ll feel entirely natural to approach their craft and immediately recognize the brutal heat pissing off of their riff-obsessed kinetic death metal grooves and ragged, ghoulish attack. It’ll be a gem for those seeking exemplar records in the tradition of pure death metal and… isn’t meant for anyone else.

Sepulcrum formed circa 2019 between members of the way, way underrated Hallux Valgus, now defunct death metal crew Cavernal, and deathgrinders Exinteratus with the major goal of creating a peak (’87-’92) underground death metal sound from their own point of view. What this amounted to in their hands early on was the finessed structure of early (and most thrash influenced) eras of Morbid Angel, Deicide and Pestilence within thier first EP (‘Corpse Dividing Holes’, 2020) featuring a late 80’s death metal demo tape feeling between the hazy but brutal drum sound, rapid-fire paced riffs and intermittent nuclear lead guitar drops. I’d enjoyed that EP for its throwback sound and how well it’d showcased the riffs themselves, the whole thing felt natural as an ‘old school’ influenced, mid-paced and fairly tuneful approach with a few particularly sophisticated grooves roaring through its length. They’d had their attack down for that style though it wasn’t a fully menacing release in terms of pace, only shuttling into a few blasts and rushes along the way. ‘Lamentation of Immolated Souls‘ addresses this with a more unrelenting death/thrash metal paced attack which still feels entirely related to that late 80’s era of wildest abandon while taking a much deeper step-and-stab into the early 90’s European spectrum.

Though their efforts never quite touch upon the more complex polyrhythmic nexus of ‘Blessed are the Sick‘ several key moments on Sepulcrum‘s debut echo the greater 80’s surrealistic thrashing machinations of The Ancient Ones at a glance. This isn’t a notion they shy away from, and it’ll be an easy reference to make and return to, but this is merely a jumping off point or a floor level from which they’ve developed their compositional quality and standards. “Orbital Teratoma” doesn’t just raise ye olde magmatic spikes in terms of riffs but breaks into an early Necrophobic-esque refrain around ~3:25 minutes into the piece when it comes time to rip a final solo or two, a quick example right off the bat that they haven’t just milled out a tribute record.

As “Schizophrenic Amputation” fires off its first salvo of three or four riffs it becomes all the more clear what this record is in terms of early Florida death metal inspired thrashing death metal and their immediate influence with shades of ‘Consuming Impulse‘ making equally important strikes along the way. The band’ve additionally named early records from Mortem (Russia) assuming the ‘Amputator‘ record is the preferred reference and Morta Skuld as outliers that are closest to their interest and intent and this makes sense even if they never quite slow down to a crawl or dip into early Cannibal Corpse-esque fare as those records do. Album closer “Traumatized by Insanity” has the most chunking early Pestilence-esque ride to it which emphasizes the percussive rhythm guitar tone of the band and this is where my mind begins to slot ‘Lamentation of Immolated Souls‘ as more of late 80’s death/thrash metal feeling experience even if some of the most memorable moments along the way don’t’ necessarily adhere too strictly to that idea. The point to make here is that this style should appeal to fans of Superstition, Infernal Conjuration and such thanks to the more striking riffcraft up front and it helps that their lead guitarist Oscar Gilbert provides the perfect level of shred n’ dive-bombing wail to help authenticate this style, it is crucial for this pre-’92 death metal sound and I’d say they’ve generally hit the right feeling.

The bass solo featured on “The Decay” is charming enough as an intermission but it also provides the major motif for “Legion’s Mandate” after it, acting as an intro of sorts where bassist Nicolás Espinoza can show off his finer skills and put an end to Side A / the first half with style. If there is one thing I never get tired of praising is the number of exceptional bassists in the Chilean death and thrash metal scenery at large and in this case those two songs feature those skills to the point that it helps to flesh out ‘Lamentation of Immolated Souls‘ beyond the obvious references one could make at face value.

By the time we hit “Caustic Inhalation” on the running order Sepulcrum have certainly delivered what most would consider an ‘Altars of Madness‘ influenced experience in passing but I think it is important to recognize the sheer number of records influenced by that era and style beyond 1989 and that this is a couple years more advanced than that’d suggest, less rooted in straight death/thrash rippers with a simple hook. On that same note, the one thing I’d hoped these guys would do is lean into the more chorus rooted pieces like ‘Deicide‘ did to differentiate that band’s style a bit, otherwise the album occasionally threatens to drum up a sort of ‘Cross the Styx‘ type of thread in terms of the riffs (“Slitting Coagulated Mess” b/w “Caustic Inhalation”) without hitting that level of speed, or, cold brutality. These are the best moments on the record for my taste. The attack here is already a considerable leap beyond that of their first recording, so, I can’t necessarily fault ’em for not kicking up the pace beyond expectations.

For a debut full-length this is an entirely convincing, impressive first showing which begins to compound Sepulcrum‘s identity. They’ve impressed with some meaningful continuity in style and shown some considerable development between their first formative release and this first big statement. In terms of my own fandom, and I believe similarly obsessed death/thrash and ‘old school’ death metal fans will appreciate this too, ‘Lamentation of Immolated Souls‘ is largely familiar but expertly performed, an aggressive yet tactful presentation which feels ready for the format but doesn’t concern itself with trying to innovate so much as it focuses on hitting the very high standards of the most classic era of death metal intensity. It plays great on repeat thanks to a high rate, high standard of riffcraft which, with bit of familiarity, eventually reveals the blueprint for their own ideals in the classic death metal format. If you’re in it for classic sounds and thrashing riffs, this is record is an easy grab this month but don’t go in expecting anything trendy or stunningly original, just a brilliant example of the craft. A high recommendation.

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