Warthur Chilean doom metal masters Procession stride up to Messiah Marcolin-era Candlemass and swipe the crown right off their heads. Yes, they are a little derivative of predecessor bands in the traditional doom metal genre (F. Plaza's vocals even take on a Messiah-like quality here and there), but this sort of doom metal is inherently nostalgic in any event, and like heroes such as Solitude Aeturnus and Candlemass, Procession are able to take their influences and work their own magic with it - in particular, they have one of the best commands of melody and texture I have seen in a metal context for a good long time. These guys are most definitely ones to watch on the doom metal front.

Time Signature The art of making the second album...

Genre: traditional doom metal

Hailing from Chile, which is not exactly associated with doom and gloom, Procession are a traditional doom metal band. Their debut full-length from 2010 "Destroyers of the Faith" was deservedly heralded by many reviewers and fans as the doom metal debut of the year. And so the next challenge to Procession would be to make the difficult second album.

And, you know what.

They succeeded.

"To Reap Heavens Apart" is even better than "Destroyers of the Faith". The band operates within the same territory of traditional doom metal as on the debut album, but they have just become better at it. The music on the album is simply massive and darkly epic. Every song treats the listener to heavy and melancholic riffs, and many songs definitely reach Candlemass-esque levels of quality. Of course, you have to be a fan of doom metal, I think, to be able to appreciate this kind of music fully, but if you are, then you are really in for a treat here.

As mentioned, there has definitely been some development since "Destroyers of the Faith". Felipe Plaza has developed as a vocalist, and his expressive and melancholic voice really comes to shine on this album, and it suits the music perfectly. As songwriters Procession have also honed their skills, and the tracks on this album are kept interesting and relevant through-out the album, which also features loads of memorable, and melancholic, guitar melodies.

This is a masterpiece of traditional doom metal. I hope that Candlemass, Solitude Aeturnus, and Count Raven are proud to have inspired this band!

Time Signature Down the river of corpses...

Genre: doom metal

"The Cult of Disease" was originally released as an EP in 2009, but in the light of the success of "Destroyers of the Faith", it is being marketed again.

And I totally understand that, because, like "estroyers of the Faith", this release offers high class old school doom metal with epic tendencies; that the most impressive thing is that Procession manage to generate the epic atmosphere using the traditional rock band instrumentation, only making very limited use of keyboards and other effects.

I think you have to be a fan of doom metal to be able to appreciate the heavy rhythms, the depressive atmosphere and the density of the music in tracks like "Lie a Plague Upon the Earth", "The Funeral of an Age" and "Down the River of Corpses" along with "Incinerate", and fans of modern aggressive metal music may not like - or understand - Procession. Fans of doom metal, however, will immediately hear that we are dealing with a band who are very good at operating withing the genre of doom metal, and who know how to put together epitomic classic doom metal which comes from the same dark place of the heart as the music of Count Raven, Candlemass, St. Vitus and early Cathedral.

Given that the songs were recorded in different studios and with different producers, there is a marked difference in production and performance between tracks 1-3 and tracks 4-6, with the first half being produced and performed much more professionally.

This release deserves to be marketed some more, and it deserves to be brought into the light so doom metal fans from all over the world can experience this shining black doom metal gem.

Vehemency It makes me awkward to review something like Procession’s Destroyers of the Faith because it’s quite a hyped record yet I have almost zero knowledge of traditional doom metal. Well yeah, I’ve heard a couple of Black Sabbath’s earliest albums and love many funeral doom bands, but when it comes to the most traditional and essential records of doom metal, I’m mostly quite lost. So this is to be remembered while reading my review - perhaps it even brings a fresh perspective, who knows?

Destroyers of the Faith sounds massive. Despite being rather bare - meaning that it’s basically just guitars, bass & drums without any unnecessities - it becomes clear that they’ve spent a good deal of time in the studio making this sound this heavy and loud. At times, the loudness is brought to such levels that - though I’m not a proper audiphile so I’m not 100% certain - the album clips a lot. This kind of reduces the effect of the heaviness, but it’s just a minor detail anyhow.

The album is also epic as hell. This is thanks to the long compositions wandering from seven to nineteen minutes, always having an adventurous feeling to it. Felipe Plaza Kutzbach delivers his clean vocals convincingly and there’s nothing to complain about the rest of the instrumentation either, riffs and beats staying true to traditional doom. One of my personal favourites is the sorrowful guitar solo on ”The Road to the Gravegarden” that doesn’t try to hurry anywhere, backed up by a simple repetitive drum beat.

When the choral sounds of ”White Coffin” end the album, I’m left with mostly positive thoughts about Destroyers of the Faith. While not every second of the album is pure brilliance, it’s still clearly a strong whole that isn’t even prolonged (as could easily happen with slow tempo compositions, but this runs for just 46 minutes). The album inspires me, a doom metal newbie, to explore the traditional fields of the genre more deeply in the future, so indeed I would say that Destroyers of the Faith is a successful release. Bigger doom fans can add a star or half to my rating, without much doubt.

Time Signature Tomb of doom...

Genre: doom metal

"Destroyers of the Faith" by Procession offers old-fashioned, unpolished and unadulterated traditional doom metal with guitar, bass, drums and vocals - and that's it. No effects. No samples. No violins. No keyboards. Just your good old rock instrumentation. And with the good old rock instrumentation paired with heavy and simple riffs, Procession manage to create a melancholic doom-laden atmosphere. It is only in the very end of the last track "White Coffin" that they make use of choir-like effects so as to conclude their sad (in doom metal sad i good) musical journey on an ominously oppressive note.

The album starts out very strongly with the short introduction-like "Hyperion" which seques into the title track, which is fairly uptempo."The Road to the Gravegarden" also starts out strongly with a heavy, tortured, doom-laden, epitomic guitar riff, but ultimately, I think that this track is the weakest and least inspiring on the album. The following songs, "Chants of the Nameless", "Toomb of Doom", and "White Coffin" more than make up for this; they are simply brilliant examples of how traditional doom metal sounds at its very best.

While not necessarily original or groundbreaking, the music on this album is still of very high quality and, with the right support from the label and other instances, this band could reach the same level of Count Raven or St. Vitus - they're that good!

Recommended to fans of traditional doom metal.