Teitanblood - The Baneful Choir

The hellish choirs of the underworld.

(Originally submitted to the Metal Archives on January 9th, 2021) 

At last, the absolutely horrible year that was 2020 has ended, and what better way to ring in 2021 other than writing about an album that came out in 2019? Teitanblood’s a band that has been making waves over the past decade, coming out with works such as Death, which took the underground by storm. In my case though, my first contact with the band was this review’s topic, The Baneful Choir, which introduced me to their brand of suffocating blackened death metal.

The album is essentially divided into two halves, split up by two interludes. Things kick off with “Rapture Below”, an ambient track (more on that later), before “Black Vertebrae” crashes through with a slow, almost doom-like riff. From that point forward the band slowly but surely builds up in terms of intensity, sprinkling in some dissonant leads, such as the one in 1:46. The track then transitions into “Leprous Fire”, which feels like a kick in the teeth, with its frenzied tremolo riffing and chaotic leads making for one of this album’s highlights. The rest of the first half follows a similar style, with most of the tracks being below 5 minutes, barring “Inhuman Utterings”, clocking at 6:20. Thankfully it makes good use of its runtime with some nice riffs and leads, such as the one at 4:14, which is underpinned by a sweet slower riff.

Following the two interludes, we are introduced to the title track, which is the longest piece on offer, and a very interesting one at that. It starts off with 2 minutes of mostly ambient buildup, before transitioning into the main riff, which is what it mostly sticks with for the remaining 6 minutes. Now, I am fully aware that sounds like an exceptionally boring song, but the way the band subtly changes said riff, along with progressively building up tension throughout the song, make for one of the best moments of the album, especially when it’s taken in as a whole. The other highlight on the second half is the last, actual song, “Verdict of the Dead”. It feels closer to a death metal song than the rest of the album, with lots of headbangable mid-paced riffs, like the one at 0:57. Another notable section is the lead that kicks in at 3:45, which, unlike most of the solos on the album is much more structured and, dare I say, borders on being melodic. Following that we end the album with yet another ambient track.

Which brings me to my one gripe with this album, that being the ambient sections. More than a fifth of this album is dark ambient tracks, and that’s discounting the sections that lie at the end of some of the songs. “Rapture Below” I can somewhat forgive, due to being the intro piece, though I still think it should’ve been trimmed by at least a minute, as well as “Insight” and “… of the Mad Men”, which I don’t understand why they’re 2 separate tracks instead of being 1 piece. “Charnel Above”, the closer also bothers me due to ruining the finality and intensity of the track that preceded it. It’s quite disappointing really, because the band is actually quite good at making interesting and gripping instrumental pieces, such as “Silence of the Great Martyrs” on Death. Thankfully, the actual songs mostly make up for that issue.

The lyrics here are also quite cool, dabbling in the outré, with occultism, eldritch horror being the main things on offer, as well as some hints of Lovecraft’s work, like the mention of Azathoth at the end of “Ungodly Others”. All that is delivered in a low, raspy growl, courtesy of Ignacio Muñoz, whose erratic performance is one of the album’s highlights, along with Javier Félez’s lead work.

Another notable characteristic of this album, and what truly makes The Baneful Choir the beast that it is, is the production. The guitar tone is muddy and distorted, and coupled with the pummeling drums and the general performances make for a truly suffocating experience. The vocals and the bass aren’t as prominent, with the bass being a bit low, and mostly heard pulsating through the instrumentation (see title track). The vocals are also a bit further in the background and have a touch of reverb applied to them, making them feel like a malevolent presence within the band’s cacophonous maelstrom.

Having since listened to the rest of the band’s discography, I can confidently say The Baneful Choir is a worthy addition to the band’s catalogue, and arguably the best album to introduce someone to the band with. Despite a few minor issues that hurt the overall experience, it still is one of the best metal albums of its year, and an easy recommendation to fans of the style.

Highlights: Black Vertebrae, Leprous Fire, The Baneful Choir, Verdict of the Dead

Rating: 86%