Deathchant’s ‘Death Rock’ Swaggers Out With Guns Blazing On Self-Titled Debut

Deathchant sound like a rock band playing in a cemetery letting the ghouls have their say on the record too. Their self titled debut interweaves remarkably memorable straightforward rock and roll with noise and the swagger commonly associated with rock turned way up, but not to the record’s detriment. Instead, Deathchant sound like they’ve crafted something entirely new from the ashes of the old, and us as listeners still have to get used to its form. They almost sound like rock’s version of Frankenstein’s monster — this story just goes somewhat better.

Although the band wrap themselves in aesthetic trappings, that’s not the only place this unique sense comes from. Their music comes filtered through noise rock at times, devolving into sputters and false starts that add to its intrigue. Deathchant continually return to a — humanoid — center, delivering riff-centric rock songs that are direct and memorable and establish themselves on their own footing apart from the noise and even each other. Underneath the overall presentation, the band have crafted a batch of remarkably catchy heavy rock tracks, feeling like they decided to abandon any pretense and forge straight on ahead with their work.

Also in the middle of their work, the band circulate around a familiar but in this case, rather strikingly vivid rock swagger as an emotional core. The intensity of daily emotions like love, loss, and longing for a higher meaning get turned up to 11 here, although they do not demand the listener’s full attention so much as point them the direction the band are going. The vocals sound intentionally distant in the mix as another design choice deriving from that apparent drive from the band to go relentlessly forward with their music, no matter what’s hanging on the edges.

Importantly though, through their nearly boundless energy, Deathchant always sound like they know what they’re doing. They’re the masters of this universe, turning to slowed down music when they see fit and directing the entire production. There’s something importantly refreshing about immersing in a musical experience where the band feel so confident, and it lets on that no matter the trappings of “death rock and roll” or anything else, the musicians behind this work have gone ahead of the crowd and blasted out a new path rock fans needed.

5/5 Stars

Listen below via Bandcamp. The full album releases January 10.