Church of the Dead's Death Metal Prayer For the "Tombdweller" (Early Track Stream)
Following a spree of cover singles ranging from Celtic Frost to Carnivore, Helsinki death/black metal outfit Church of the Dead is poised to deliver another, longer missive spawned from their own devious minds: their upcoming sophomore album Beyond Death. The aforementioned cover choices hint at what the band’s new record confirms for sure: the Finnish group is dialed into metal’s rich history and wields their knowledge with a maniacal lack of precision.
They opt, instead, to unleash a punk-edged assault that merges black and death metal into riff-heavy metal with a sense for the dramatic. The album’s raucous proceedings fit surprisingly well with a backdrop of dramatic synths and well-honed production–the latter shaving off just enough rough edges to give some of the heaviest moments awe-inspiring impact without hiding any of the tonal nastiness on display. This sense of evil divinity is grounded by the band’s obvious distaste for too much theatrics over the meat’n’potatoes stuff–note the “Chainsaw Gutfuck” cover later on in the record, and how the band leaves a spot in the credits for “synths and shit.”
Speaking of divinity, as to whether or not the “Tombdweller” that Church of the Dead references in the song we’re premiering today is actually divine or just unfortunately reanimated, I’m unclear. The atmosphere of unliving, unholy majesty that the track creates is easy to pick up on, however. Listen below.
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Guitarist Kride comments:
For me “Tombdweller” stands for a new era of our band and musical direction.
With this song, I think we went further away from death metal than before, while at the same time, it also brought us closer to the original sources within the genre we loved. There is certainly more black-ish riffage and hellish atmosphere abound than before which shows here. Basically, it was time to let go of the old boundaries and just create something new for us. Overall, I feel there is just more depth in it and I hope listeners will share the same feeling. I don’t remember much about the composing of the song, but I do remember it was during the pandemic… miserable times…
Vocalist Jussi adds:
Thematically, “Tombdweller” is about isolation and being an outcast. It’s a story about a person who has woken up after being buried and started to crawl inside the tombs searching for a meaning, but still not being able to go back among the living. It has some horror and graveyard clichés in it, but the story itself has a deeper meaning for us.
Beyond Death releases May 26th via Redefining Darkness Records.
