For You I Die
War Productions (Cassette)
Chalice Of Suffering from Minneapolis, Minnesota (USA) just released this, their debut full length a few days ago. On top of this I’ve only been listening to this album for ten minutes and I’m already floored by its grandiose scale. This is doom metal that strives to push its boundaries, travel and explore the uncharted regions of extreme music and create something personalized, singular and matchless which refuses to pander to any target audience or the bottom line. I remember when a band from the U.K. called Enchantment released one album, Dance The Marble Naked, in 1994. I remember it being years ahead of its time for throwing method to the wind and taking real chances with its compositions. It’s a shame they disbanded as they exhibited unheard of potential. This album is buried deep in doom metal’s annals if you dare seek it. The Japanese black metal band Sigh did likewise on Ghastly Funeral Theatre and Hail Horror Hail and continue to push the envelope. The quickening I got from those bands I experience the same way from Chalice Of Suffering. Plunging headlong into darkness and solitude, they illustrate the emptiness, longing and despair within with more animation than you’d anticipate from a band that peers this far into the void. The term “beauty in darkness” applies as their energy is channeled into talent, originality and ingenuity, not fleeting fame, prestige or even a quick buck. Pushing the latter aside at least for the time being they bring nightmares to life, painting the horrors of nightmare as if they were tapestries by Giger or Goya. To present an idea of what to expect musically here, the band’s Youtube profile includes a list of favorited videos from bands that influence them. Some of these are Evoken (USA), Ahab (Germany), Mournful Congregation (Australia) and Skepticism who are considered one of the founding bands of funereal doom metal. If those bands are familiar to you, think of a band that incorporates some of each into their sound, together with My Dying Bride and Moonspell. There are many more doors to be opened, and Chalice Of Suffering are opening several. It helps if each track is different, and you can expect those differences in Darkness, Who Will Cry, Alone, Fallen with its wind and string instruments and its ambiance, the atmospheric Void and especially Cumha Do Mag Shamhrain performed entirely with bagpipes of all instruments. The range in lead vocals stood out above all else, assuming many forms as they seemed to hover over the musicianship like mist over an ancient lake. This is one band you should watch for in 2017. -Dave Wolff
Track list:
1. Darkness
2. Who Will Cry
3. For You I Die
4. Alone
5. Screams of Silence
6. Cumha Do Mag Shamhrain
7. Fallen
8. Void
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