PROCESSION (Destroyers Of The Faith) LP/CD
Chile's own Procession belong to those phenomenons in Doom I did not quite get. In the online department of the scene there was a lot of praise for the three piece after their first demo already so I was expecting big things for their EP. I must say, though I enjoyed that piece of wax a bit, I must admit I could still not see what would make them so special apart from their native soil. But I do not give a shit about that. Nevertheless they were a good band in my book but they did not get me all excited. So I was not overexcited when their first full length showed up in my mail. The greater was my pleasant surprise when I finally put that CD into the player and was shortly thinking my CD-changer would play the new Count Raven instead. But it was opening track 'Hyperion' that could raise a certain enthusiasm in me because of it’s reminiscences of Count Raven in the riff department. I guess I would have been a total enthusiast if the complete album, that features just 6 Songs at a playing time of around 46 minutes, would have been like that.
On the other hand I can understand every musician who tries to get a little diversity in his albums. So apart from the nice Count Raven-like mid tempo riffing there is more great Doom going on here. 'The Road to the Gravegardens', an old song from the demo 'Burn' and re-released on the EP as well, is a road that is built on the foundation of another big Scandinavian band of the newer generation of Doom bands, if you know what I mean. I wonder why they had to put that track on here as well as it is a weaker part of the album. Maybe they had not enough material?
The title track 'Destroyers of the Faith' delivers a nice slab of epic Metal in between the Doom and might remind of Candlemass or even more of Solstice. And this is not only due to traditional Metal riffs but also because of the vocals of mastermind Felipe Plaza who has an epic feel in his voice without being as filled with pathos as some of his colleges and therefore reminds of the singers of the English Epic Doom legend. That is something positive in my book as I lately am not the biggest fan of these kinds of vocals anymore. And he is still able to deliver great vocals as he does in 'Chants Of The Nameless'. This song should be an Epic Doom hit. It says that Felipe nowadays resides in Sweden to bring the band further by the way. A good choice thinking of all the Scandinavian Doom Bands shining through in his work. Overall 'Destroyers Of The Faith' is essential for all fans that like their Doom with a good portion of epic heaviness and a metallic attitude.
(Thorsten Frahling)