Down into the fires of Hell we follow the trail of an obscure cult named as Concepción, Chile-based death metal quartet CANCERBERO all of whom carry the mark of the Ancient Ones pressed upon their true old school death-thrashing skulls per this unthinkable return for a third full-length album. In calling back to the diabolic age of late 80’s thrash ’til death sensibilities ‘Sempiternal Decay‘ is both an extension of this band’s origins and a third-stage lease on life long after death. For a band that never was in their first life and only found their way beyond resurrection this new material feels like an appropriate lightning strike back at the locus of inspiration, a record which is as irreverent and ruthless as the extreme thrash that’d shocked them to life back in the day.

Cancerbero formed back in 1987 by way of vocalist/bassist Peter and within a year they’d put together a quartet and released one of the first death metal demos from Chile, at least when we consider the scenery outside of the Santiago area. ‘Guardian from Hell‘ (1988) was a raw speed metal inspired vision of death metal with mid-paced sections that’d spoke to their primitive capabilities (see: “Dark Message”) and carried an odd sense of shambling melody informed by hard rock and heavy metal. While that first tape was clearly just some folks making some evil noise a second demo (‘Perpetual Agony‘, 1991) refined some of those ideas, reflecting a clear fandom of thrash metal as they’d tested the limits of both the guitarist and drummer. That second tape is probably the most choice relic of the original ’87-’94 life of the band but not much to go on when looking forward as the band’s line-up has never been all that steady past and present.

After a few false starts Cancerbero resurrected officially as a trio thirteen years later with original guitarist Feto returning alongside Peter. They’d produced a demo tape (‘Abominations From Hell‘, 2007) in the style of late 80’s death metal, brutal and primitive with a single guitar grinding and chunking it out. Again, while that demo was somewhat related to the band’s past it was just another step that’d collapsed underfoot as the band’s line-up once again changed. The real provenance and interest in this band should rightfully peck at your ears around the early 2010’s when a new trio formation would conjure a debut full-length (‘At the Portal of Evoked Blasphemies‘, 2012) which was indebted to late 80’s USDM grooves as well as South American death-thrashing furor all written in intense off-cut blasted-through pieces earning comparisons to Pentagram (Chile) and Mortem (Peru) around that time. Of course anything in this style is of interest to me though I had trouble finding anything more than a clip until ~2015 or so when it became available digitally. That first album should more-or-less inform your expectations for the band’s output a fiery, morbid and blasting hot ancient death metal even if each full-length release to date features a different lineup beyond bandleader Peter and drummer Leo, who has essentially been on board since 2009.

Even at thier most cavernous and brutal Cancerbero have reflected the spirit of 80’s death metal, roots which can be drawn from the deepest reaches of late 80’s/early 90’s Cogumelo fare toward the simpler movements of ‘Obsessed by Cruelty‘ and ‘To Mega Therion‘ while retaining a certain level of brutality. ‘Reconquering the Throne of Death‘ (2019) was the album to do it bigger and better in extension of ‘At the Portal of Evoked Blasphemies‘, a meaner album which’d sounded as if it were unearthed from the era of records like ‘Tribulated Bells‘. This’d naturally set expectations for ‘Sempiternal Decay‘ as a likely display of possessed thrashing death metal with a ranting-mad sense of ‘old school’ death metal movement. This is what we get on this new album though you can expect a more concise vision of true first-era death metal which has been presented raw and realistic in its summon.

In fact one of my favorite aspects of ‘Sempiternal Decay‘ in early previews was its sense of ex-thrasher loyalty, a ramping of speed metal rhythms into diabolic spectacle which isn’t entirely afraid to stretch into early Morbid Angel or ‘Scream Bloody Gore‘-copped grooves (see: “Obscure Rites“) while flurries of dive-bombing and scrambling leads create their own swirling havoc amidst. A kinda Rat-warmed distortion helps to build a riff focused set from the start as “Primal Deities” bleeds of those traditional sensibilities with its garage level production values a bruised and slightly less cavernous vision beyond the previous LP. There is always another lead trailing behind and another quick-change readied up giving Cancerbero‘s first impression a raw and filth-ridden sound which, to me, invokes the post-‘Seven Churches‘ scramble for death metal demo tapes south of the United States. While I am familiar with guitarist Nicolás Muñoz‘ speed/thrash metal bands (Deranged, Defeater) as well as second guitarist Pablo Cifuentes‘ station in Peter‘s band Sadistic I can’t say I was expecting those skills to translate directly to this band in follow up to ‘Reconquering the Throne of Death‘ but their work on this album does a brilliant job of capturing the flailing-wild, imperfect mayhem of 80’s extreme thrash better than most as we cruise through Side A.

While we do not escape the threat of ‘Altars of Madness‘-induced death metal on the second half (see: “Serpent’s Domain“) a few longer pieces develop on the back half of ‘Sempiternal Decay‘ as Cancerbero reach for what I’d consider something more Sadistic Intent-esque as their inspiration taken from European death metal is made somewhat more clear via “Burial” specifically. The patternation of this song reminds me of the previous album more directly and stood out to me most when returning for repeated listens as I appreciate the more interruptive, labyrinthine stretches of riffcraft they’ve explored on each LP. Closer “Burning Angels” elaborates on this idea even more, though the leads/solos in the first half of the song needed another take or two. That is maybe the only frayed end out of place here on an otherwise fine example of ‘old school’ death metal which is still conscious of its thrash-enabled roots.

The full listen may appear overly referential at times as Cancerbero‘ve dig back to the classics too heartily here and there but this is not such a crime within the traditional death metal space, especially when done well. The appeal of their rugged sound design and the duo of guitarist’s grasp upon the loose, frenzied sound of 80’s death metal proper is not lost upon me as a die-hard fan of all things death-thrashing. Anyone like-minded should appreciate the sound and the riffs found on ‘Sempiteral Decay‘ despite the tempered familiarity of its accost. Otherwise this record has a true underground mania to it, a fire of possession applied which fans of false ‘old school’ death metal won’t likely appreciate beyond a passing glance. A very high recommendation.

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