Formed in 2009 in Portland, Oregon, Shroud of the Heretic is a trio comprised of Thom (bass/vocals), Lauren (drums, and JT (guitar). Revelations in Alchemy is their debut full length, to be released on vinyl through Blood Harvest and CD through Craneo Negro. Seven tracks of crushing, primal, doom laden death make up this album, with absolutely monstrous guitar dirges and indecipherable growls & moans. Tunes like "The Arrival" and "Heretical Screams" plow along with glorious doomy intent, with furious death metal not truly arriving till the manic "Chaotic Astral Ascension". The band seems however to truly revel in slower paced, occult driven material, as the majority of the rest of the album again relies on ponderous, doom styled riffing and rhythms, which reminds a bit of Celtic Frost at times. "Revelations in Alchemy" is a huge, apocalyptic slab of crushing guitar sludge, while the frantic double kick drums drive the raging death metal track "Blasphemous Rebirth", one of only two fast paced songs on the album. I don't find the vocals on Revelations in Alchemy particularly effective or interesting, and in fact, I'm not even sure if Thom is actually trying to convey lyrics or just throwing in some evil, cavernous moans just to, well, throw them in. It's unfortunately, for me anyway, a real drawback on what is otherwise a pretty kick ass album.
Track Listing
1) The Arrival
2) Heretical Screams
3) Chaotic Astral Ascension
4) Illuminism
5) The Adversary
6) Revelations in Alchemy
7) Blasphemous Rebirth
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