Chant of the Goddess

Looking for some nice doom metal, I came upon Sao Paulo's power trio Chant of the Goddess, who just released a self-titled debut less than a week ago after working on it for two years. Given the crystal clear production and the maturity of the work on the album, I can believe it, too. Just like the ambient wind and rain several of the tracks starts with, the album's clean guitars have a liquid sound to them, while the distorted versions that kick in are as abrasive as a wall made of some material whose normal use is involved in coating stonecutting surfaces in some way. Grand and echoing as Pallbearer's, but with menace substituted for sorrow, and without any of the retro vibe they possess, they are capable of speed as well as noise, but are used sparingly, jumping out to blast away the quiet portions of the song and surprise the listener. The guitar solos are odd, scream-filled ventures that have an improvised sound, but the tracks themselves feel meticulously arranged, from the ominous marching bass solo of the title track (Cantico della Dea) to the trippy Eastern-scale guitar plunking of The Black Mythology. Guitarist Renan Angelo proves himself willing and able to provide different vocal styles at will, from off-key but clean traditional doom to a bellicose death-metal rasp, dropping his voice to a hushed whisper on the cleanest portions like a wizard speaking of occult secrets. In terms of composition, the songs are heavy on the guitar but not dominated by it; in fact, the fine balance between the three instruments promotes the already strong atmosphere of the pieces. A heavy atmosphere punctuated by sparkling light is the theme of Chant of the Goddess, and the extensive work done in putting this together pays off in spades. Definitely a must-listen for the doom fan, in my book. Bandcamp: https://chantofthegoddess.bandcamp.com/album/chant-of-the-goddess-2.