In the trenches for nearly a decade and finally ready to escalate their assault in graven theater northeastern Brazilian death metal quintet SEPULCHRAL WHORE arrive upon their debut full-length statement entirely weathered, prepared for all situations with a well-wrought personae and full-fleshed aptitude(s) worthy of the rarely met standards of ‘old school’ death metal. Carrying its own haunting presence in tow ‘The Return From a Sepulchral Rest‘ makes good on the band’s ancient promise of necrotic death metal with this kicking, thrashing-yet-brutal blaze of breakneck riffing pummel and headstone perched gloom. Easily one of the best surprises underground classicist death metal has crossed the threshold with so far this year.

Sepulchral Whore formed back in 2015 between a trio folks known for death metal in their regional scene since the late 2000’s or so with Beast Conjurator probably being the best known association. That original trio would soon produce their first mLP (‘Everlasting Morbid Delights‘, 2017) deploying a style of death metal taking inspiration from Celtic Frost and much more than the usual early 90’s death metal tropes and instead opting for a loud, declarative mid-paced style with some doomed edges. Beyond that point the band would undergo a series of line-up changes, adding a second guitarist/keyboardist (Pestmeester) in 2018 and replacing their original bassist/vocalist Necrospinal with two folks in 2019. The first test of that new line-up was actually a live album (‘Live in Chamber of Fear‘, 2022) a few years later and the main reason to mention it is that you’ll find raw live versions of some of the songs which’d found their way onto ‘The Return From a Sepulchral Rest‘, something to compare and contrast for those who enjoy maximum context.

There is a truck-like press into the first four-or-so pieces beyond the brief intro (“From Rest to March”) wherein the percussive, violent edge of Sepulchral Whore‘s cough-up from the grave builds its intense volley of riffs off the back of the drummer’s exceptional touch for turn-on-a-dime movement. Our first true taste of their mania comes with opener “Schizophrenic Killer” a multi-faceted and restless composition with a Nocturnus inspired warp, a shade of Apoplexy‘s (Svk) off-kilter movement, and some key strikes at ‘Testimony of the Ancients‘ styled movement from riff-to-riff. This first piece pushes past quickly, eager to dig deeper within the ante-upping chop of “…from the Utterly Perished”, and in doing so allows the easier to miss details of those first few songs to blur past unless following their work note-for-note. The horror death metal haunt of the opener now begins characterizing the full listen as they lean into the use of keyboards, per guitarist Pestmeester, a classic touch which eventually becomes one of its strongest points of individualization.

Sepulchral Whore undoubtedly carry a high-level education in death metal riffcraft into every song as much of their work approaches circa 1992 peaking fortitudes wherein they’ve found a sweet spot of thrashing intensity and low-tech exposition which does well to match performative rhythms which flow together at experting levels (see: “Dimness”) when it comes time to shut up and crank up the fog machines. As we reach the end of Side A, or the first half, we should be reminded of the next level of evolution plumbed directly beyond the breakthrough in style and precision per albums like ‘Human‘. Though there is a certain barbaric finesse to most of these songs they’ve done well to ride the fence between tactful keyboard-bent/riff obsessed pieces and uglier, ragged death metal wind ups (“Purgatorial Holes”) where they hit upon more guttural vocals a la earlier Drawn and Quartered and quick flitting between verses built on ~2-3 riffs while still ultimately falling back on rhythms which to me sustain the thrashing etch of pre-’93 Pestilence. There is enough going on from piece to piece that none of it ends up feeling like plain worship.

Additionally, “Whore From Sepulcher” features one of the more profound examples of these folks’ capability to gear up into a death/doom metal sized sprawl. While this one aspect of the song is exciting as it develops it is how Sepulchral Whore‘s guitarists balanced this with their more ruthless side that’d made it one of the choice standouts of the lot for my own taste. There is yet a morbid downturn felt in deeper passage through Side B beyond that point, particularly at the start of “A Poem of Death” and the endpoint of the ~8 minute behemoth of a closer “Putrefaction After Death”. This is final piece and the walk up to it would ultimately be where the band’s wares came full circle with me and quickly convinced ‘The Return From a Sepulchral Rest‘ was worth returning to.

These folks have managed an above-average death metal album which doesn’t pay too much mind to modern notions of ‘old school’ death metal. The result should still be entirely crowd pleasing for its focus on the fundamental effect of pure death metal and their own morbid yet sorta sophisticated version of it. Though there are some bells and whistles necessary to make it all work they’ve landed upon a memorable, violent event which embodies the right spirit of the form. Beyond those points it shouldn’t be that deep, just a well-rounded death metal record with a mean-assed sound and some great songs to back it up. A high recommendation.

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