Venomous Skeleton - Arcane Chants of Death Demo

Spiral into oblivion.

(Originally submitted to the Metal Archives on January 19th 2021) 

Back in 2020, I covered Venomous Skeleton’s debut LP Drowning in Circles in a (poorly written) review, which was instrumental in shaping my reviewing habits. Since then, I’ve made a point out of primarily covering artists and releases that don’t have any reviews to their name. A year and 52 reviews later, I decided to cover their Arcane Chants of Death demo, seeing as the band has been living rent free in my head since that fateful review.
Like their full-length, this demo features atmospheric, and slightly chaotic death metal, but the main difference here is the production. For some inexplicable reason, this release features production that is miles better than what Drowning in Circles had to offer. The guitars are murky and drenched in reverb, without turning into an amorphous mass, while the bass has a noticeable presence underneath. The drums also sound quite good, barring the kicks, which are nigh on inaudible, and could’ve benefitted from being higher up in the mix. Nir Doliner’s low roar is also nicely placed, with him hovering over the mix as if he’s some kind of incorporeal being. It’s quite the headscratcher that this style of production was ditched for their debut, seeing as it fits the music like a glove.
Said music isn’t terribly original, but it’s executed perfectly and succeeds in what it sets out to do. Chaotic tremolo riffs mix with crawling doom tempos, creating a suffocating atmosphere for the 12 minutes of this demo’s length. The transitions between segments are erratic, yet don’t feel all that haphazard, resulting in songs that flow surprisingly well and feel organic. The band also throws a few curveballs here, such as the lopsided groove on “Mare Tenebrarum” and the lead at the end of “Echoes of Light”, preventing this release from becoming stale.
Though I prefer this demo quite a bit over the debut, it’s not completely free of criticism. For one, it’s not terribly original, as mentioned earlier, though that is made up for by good performances and engaging songwriting, so I can let that slide. It’s not like there’s many completely original bands occupying this particular niche anyways. Its length is also a bit disappointing, since it’s three tracks that clock in at 12 minutes, though I suppose you could argue it’s better to leave someone wanting more, rather than have them get bored. That approach has definitely worked for me here.
Arcane Chants of Death is a great display of how to correctly do murky, and slightly dissonant, death metal. Had I heard this back when it originally released, I’d undoubtedly be excited for the prospect of a full length. But as fate would have it, I went through these guys’ material backwards, and was retroactively disappointed ever so slightly. That being said I’m definitely interested in seeing what these guys do in the future, and will be keeping a keen eye on them.
Highlight: Echoes of Light

Rating: 91% 

  

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