This album is probably the biggest pleasant surprise in the realm of extreme metal thus far in Y2K. A trio of Mexican hardasses fronted by Daniel Corchado (formerly of Incantation), The Chasm play a brand of death metal that is rather unique in this day and age. A perfectly heterogenous mix of fast, thrashy blasting passages akin to old-school Floridian and Swedish death metal mixed with slower tremolo-oriented melodic passages which remind one of Dissection-style black metal. This sound can be best described as a combination of Incantation, Dissection, newer Hypocrisy and Autumn Leaves...certainly more innovative than any half-assed "br00tal" American death metal or misnomered Swedish "melodeath".

Procession to the Infraworld (The Chasm's second LP) starts with an instrumental intro called "Spectral Sons of the Mictlan", which introduces the listener to the band's slower, more mellifluous side - it nearly fools one into thinking that this band is another In Flames/Arch Enemy clone with its chugging rhythm guitars overlayed by melodic (wanky, even) lead textures. However, all illusions are shattered once track 2 "The Scars of My Journey" breaks in with a speedy rhythm that reminds the listener that The Chasm is still rooted in Corchado's tenure in Incantation. The next song, "At the Edge of Nebula Mortis" starts out with a slower riff, but builds up to a climactic temolo assault before settling back into the mid-paced groove towards the end of the song. The remainder of the album continues in this fashion and it impresses throughout.

The Chasm are obviously very skilled musicians - their riffs are punctual and impactuous; the lead textures are well-placed and (frighteningly) beautiful; the solos are wild yet not devoid of melody; the drumming is extremely impressive with impeccable timing and very creative fills; even the bass (where it's audible) sounds impressive. The songwriting is also quite complex, yet tolerable, unlike many other American metal extremists, who lose all semblance of song structure in lieu of trying to create a more "technical" barrage of ill-placed riff and time signature changes. The Chasm is a huge breath of fresh air in that regard.

The production on Procession to the Infraworld is a bit of a hassle at times. While the overall feel of the album is very cool (almost black metal-ish due to the ambience and diabolical vocal style), but the mixing is a bit weak. The guitars are a bit muffled-sounding on higher notes (which is odd) and are often drowned out by the drums, which I've noticed as a major fallacy of digital mixing. However, the production problems really don't hurt the album if you manipulate the equalizer on your stereo properly. Still, had the guitars been pulled to the front of the audio scape of Procession to the Infraworld, the album would've had a much more brutal and devastating sound.

Production aside, there is very little to complain about as far as music goes with this album. It's well-written, well-arranged, well-executed and unconventional blackened death metal. There really should be more bands playing this type of music nowadays...unfortunately, too many American bands are rooted firmly in the wasteland of generic mosh death. It almost seems like Latin America is having a small explosion of high-quality death metal this year, between Krisiun, Rebaelliun and this band, our neighbors to the south may well be getting the upper hand in the field of extreme metal. I hope, however, that The Chasm can switch labels before they go to work on their next opus. Dwell Records is basically a poisoned well that is hell-bent on flooding the market with second-rate tribute albums. Still, The Chasm's second offering is a very worthy purchase that will likely appeal to most fans of death and black metal.

This review is credited to:
The Havoc Vulture