Metal Art

Chapel Of Disease have caused quite a stir on the death metal scene recently. Approaching from a purely old school angle, their debut album Summoning Black Gods was a refreshing burst of inspiration in an otherwise stagnant scene. Floundering on its past glories and struggling to find a way forward, the death metal scene needed a short sharp shock and it looks likely that Chapel Of Disease may well have given it. Of course this could could have been a one off and their follow up may just be another death metal album. Except it’s not and in The Mysterious Ways Of Repetitive Art the band may well have defined what death metal can be for a new generation. Still chock full of old school riffs and growling vocals and blast beats it also has a sense of experimentation and resolve about it that is not unlike Carcass’ work on Heartwork. It is music which seeks to expand on a previous palette whilst keeping purely in genre conventions.

Don't be fooled by the heavy riffs and scratchy semi-throaty vocals. The Lake of Tears of "Greater Art" are the same ones that would later bring excellent retro-gothic albums like "A Crimson Cosmos" and the masterpiece "Forever Autumn". What happens is that here the influence of Celtic Frost and Black Sabbath is still very long, and the true personality of the band was yet to emerge. A somewhat raw production, too ethereal lyrics and a similar structure in almost all the songs do not help too much either. In any case, if you enjoy doom-gothic metal with progressive and seventies touches, you can give this "Greater Art" a try, although without a doubt the best of the group was yet to come.

The album is based on the ancient Chinese military treatise, The Art of War written by General Sun Tzu in the 6th Century BC. It consists of 13 chapters, each of which describe a different aspect of warfare, and is considered the definitive work on military tactics and strategies of its time. The tracks on the album correspond to each chapter of treatise. The lyrics of the songs are about famous battles or war, mostly based on the battles of the First and Second World Wars where Sun Tzu's tactics were applied. The limited contains the full-length CD and the book The Art of War by Sun Tzu.