Tzompantli – Beating the Drums of Ancestral Force
May 17th, 2024
Death / Doom Metal
20 Buck Spin
Pomona, California, USA
I’ve been aware of Tzompantli for a hot minute but it wasn’t until the release of their sophomore album, Beating the Drums of Ancestral Force, that I really decided to delve into this band. This may be some of the most crushing, heavy, and ominous death metal I’ve heard so far in 2024, a year that’s already been chock full of tons of great death metal releases. Obviously the prehispanic and indigenous themes of this band’s music are reason enough to be intrigued, as its a topic of history and culture that is often not discussed in metal, but the music kicks ass to boot. Come for the themes, stay for the riffs.
The album opens with absolutely zero fucking around, immediately bashing listeners over the head with an insane cacophony of blast beats, downtuned tremolo picking and guttural war chants that would no doubt send the fear of death down the spine of any conquistador. But while the album opens this way it doesn’t remain so. It isn’t long before the righteous assault of frenzied speed slows down and gets real groovy with it. Tzompantli clearly aren’t afraid to let influences from doom metal and hardcore seep into their music, as chugs and atmospheric leads shoot out over slow, ponderous drum passages.
What’s more impressive is just how layered this album is, which perhaps would come as no surprise if one was to take a cursory glance at the amount of musicians the band has recruited for this second album of theirs. With 10 members in their official lineup, according to Metal Archives, the sound of Beating the Drums of Ancestral Force is expansive, vast, and as viscous as a primordial ooze.
Vocal duties are handled by Brian “Itztlakamayeh” Ortiz, Jason “Katulu” Brunes, Erol Ulug, Alejandro Aranda, Justin Moore, and Lord Foul, so it should come as no surprise that the variety in the vocals on this album is quite vast. While the majority of the lead vocals are delivered in a particularly deep and utterly guttural squelch that sounds like it bubbled up from the deepest point of the Amazon River, they are joined by the occasional moment of higher or mid-range screams. Occasionally the screams will include a bit of throaty melody in a manner semi-reminiscent of Gojira. Other times the lead vocals are backed up by layered gang vocals that chant behind the instrumentation.
The riffs on here are provided by Ortiz, Manzig “Yohualli” Sanchez, Mateotl Boughton, Erol Ulug, and Justin Ton on guitars, while Eric Delgado backs them up on the bass, and together this completely ridiculous lineup of musicians who are all contributing to the strings make some crushing material. There’s an element of slam present in some of the riffs, especially on some of the slower cuts, like “Chichimecatl”, but it never quite devolves into the chug-a-lug fest that slam is known for. Instead it feels much more rooted in death / doom, notably feeling similar at points to the work of bands like Hooded Menace. As mentioned before, the riffs feel primarily slow and brutal, with the occasional fast moment interjected, while the lead guitars squeal out atmospheric leads that make the whole sonic package feel dreadfully ominous.
The primary drums are provided by Alejandro Aranda who is backed up on various other percussion and folk instruments by Ortiz, Jason “Katulu” Brunes, and Mateotl Gonzalez. Together this section of the band adds a deviously thick and sludge-laden sound to the entire record. The percussion in fact may be the strongest element of this album as the drumming just packs so much weight and punctuation onto every single song. Joined by various drums outside of the typical metal drum kit as well as other percussion instruments like shakers and bongos the entire rhythm section lays waste to everything in its path, and in many cases carries the string section of the band on its back.
On the production side of things this album sounds absolutely fucking massive. This record feels like the sonic equivalent of getting crushed by a massive stone falling from the top of a ziggurat. Everything from the reverb-drenched guitars to the cavernous vocals to the absolute onslaught of the percussion combines together to create a viscous soup of viscera and blood that will drown you in its heaviness.
Tzompantli have totally crushed this second album, delivering one of the best death metal outings I’ve heard so far this year. Heavy as balls, thick as sludge, and violently aggressive, it pulls no punches when it comes to turning your skull into a smattered mass of bone fragments and brains. Listen to this album if you want to know what it feels like to have your cranium imploded.
Final Verdict: 9/10
Awesome
Favourite Tracks:
“Tetzahuitl”
“Tlayohualli”
“Chichimecatl”
~ Akhenaten
Where Strides The Behemoth? 