Chapel of Disease
Echoes of Light


3.5
great

Review

by Dewinged STAFF
February 20th, 2024 | 33 replies


Release Date: 02/09/2024 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Adventurous, defying and unpredictable, Chapel of Disease have done it again.

Chapel of Disease have become a very strange band. The lads from Cologne led by Laurent Teubl have been on a spiraling genre crisis since their debut Summoning The Black in 2012, but is it really a crisis? Or is it evolution? Blasting death metal like they were the direct heritage of bands like Pestilence or Asphyx, they made quite a strong impression in the European death metal scene, something they consolidated even more with The Mysterious Ways of Repetitive Art three years later.

And then came the surprises. In 2018, which is exactly the first time our paths crossed, their third album, the generously titled ... And as we have seen the storm, we have embraced the Eye, presented a band that was letting go of their old school death metal skin in favor of exploring different sub-genres of metal to the point that it became quite the nightmare to classify them. Their third release, published this time through German label Ván Records instead of FDA Records, who had published their first two albums, was a recording that showed how smartly they had incorporated heavy metal, post punk, gothic rock and an infinity of tags into their style and frankly, the results were amazing. You could still call them a death metal band, but only if you said whispering into someone's ear and never in public places.

Six years later and things have changed considerably for Chapel of Disease. With Christian K. out of the band and Laurent taking bass duties for this recording, the band has discarded completely the death metal tag. Honestly, I don’t even know how to tag them anymore, and that’s where most of Echoes of Light’s charm resides. My favorite track, “Gold/Dust”, feeds from Jake E. Lee era Ozzy Osbourne as much as it does from Tribulation. “Shallow Nights” goes as far as to mix a power ballad with Laurent trying his best Alcest rendition... as good as he possibly can. Opener and title track “Echoes of Light” includes a riff at the beginning that sounds like Supertramp being played by Kvelertak, and the list of weird stuff just goes on and on.

On the other hand, when Chapel of Disease decide to go metal, which amounts to maybe half of the material here, they will blow your wig off. The best this album has in offer is displayed through their most aggressive parts, especially in the first two tracks or in the gothic death rock of “Selenophile”. Laurent’s growls still sound great on those tracks, even if he has lost a bit of that aggressive edge he had in the band’s first two releases. The introduction of synths and lengthy clean parts with ambitious guitar solos and bluesy parts definitely give their music an interesting character, but some of the clean vocal performances are dubious, to put it mildly, and in terms of production their 2018 predecessor had a better overall sound. In any case, that doesn’t mean that Echoes of Light isn’t up to the quality level you would expect from this band. The album, mixed and recorded by Laurent with the help of Michael Zech still preserves a good part of what made ...And as we have seen the Storm... a fantastic album, and even adds a bit of sharpness to it.

Very intriguing and strangely appealing album this one. It’s a record that undoubtedly will put longtime fans of the band to a test, but it’s also the kind of record that could very well earn them an entire new fanbase that didn’t vibe with their first two albums. Whatever your choice is, know that when it comes to Chapel of Disease, it’s always worth a check, unless you’ve come here looking for some good orthodox ol’ death metal. In that case, you might be better off looking for your fix of filth somewhere else.




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user ratings (79)
3.5
great


Comments:Add a Comment 
Dewinged
Staff Reviewer
February 20th 2024


32219 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

I wasn't planning on reviewing this one but it's an interesting record and I really like this band so I thought I'd give it a shot!



Here's another song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3eYvodo75s&ab_channel=vanrecords



Give it a chance!

Hawks
February 20th 2024


94956 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Not as good as Storm but a fucking great album regardless. M///

Dewinged
Staff Reviewer
February 20th 2024


32219 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Yeah I personally like it a lot but for the review I decided to notch it down to a 3.5 because objectively, some aspects of it could be better.

Muzz79
February 20th 2024


3140 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Good call reviewing this Dewi

PizzaBear
February 20th 2024


702 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Love this one! Idk that I agree on the production being worse though, like I can see why you'd say so but it very much feels like an intentional decision and not one that I ever found took away from the album.

Dewinged
Staff Reviewer
February 20th 2024


32219 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Yeah I agree, the album still sounds really good, even better considering the shift in style. I just prefer the overall feeling of the one before this one. I feel they balanced style and sound perfectly on Storm.

manosg
Emeritus
February 20th 2024


12710 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Killer album and review.

Dewinged
Staff Reviewer
February 20th 2024


32219 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Thank you manosg!

Ashtiel
February 21st 2024


1479 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

"A Death Through No Loss" is one of the most stunning songs I've heard so far this year.

Dewinged
Staff Reviewer
February 21st 2024


32219 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

i'm not a big fan of that laid back middle section ala Floyd, way too long, but the rest yeah it's amazing.

PizzaBear
February 21st 2024


702 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

I think the weakness of the cleans is especially apparent on Shallow Nights but I love the song otherwise tbh. Band Floyds better than old man Waters does

Dewinged
Staff Reviewer
February 21st 2024


32219 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Yeah I can live with the chorus, but man the verses are... rough lol

Hawks
February 22nd 2024


94956 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Shallow Nights is my fav track here tbh.

Ashtiel
February 22nd 2024


1479 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

any bands with a similar-ish sound to this to check? Tribulation is the main name I've seen thrown around.

Orb
February 22nd 2024


9519 Comments


Damn they really went straight from cheap motel art to cheap science classroom art for their album cover just like that

Dewinged
Staff Reviewer
February 22nd 2024


32219 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

I prefer the cheap motel one by a mile.



@Ashtiel Tribulation's last two records would be my rec for sure. Can't think of anything similar to this honestly.

Purpl3Spartan
February 22nd 2024


9087 Comments


That’s some dope cover art yall cappin but the last one was cool too

Muzz79
February 24th 2024


3140 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Album absolutely rules

Hawks
February 24th 2024


94956 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Yep.

PortalofPerfection
March 1st 2024


3327 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Finally got around to this. Meh.



It's trying to do too many different styles/sounds at once and isn't very good at any of them. First album was much more focused and quite a bit better.



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