LP Review: "Visions From Beyond" by Old Chapel

Visions From Beyond

Today's review is going to start with another anecdote about my daughter. Recently, we were looking at a collection of 78 RPM records that were the soundtracks to story books.

It was plain as day: She wanted to know why the children weren't just watching these stories on Netflix.

Then the explanations came. Back in those days, or even when we were her age, kids didn't have Netflix, or Blu-Ray Players, or even VHS.

But let's all think back to the VHS tapes.

Before anyone we knew were buying home videos, we were transferring home movies, recording our favorite shows, and movies and of course we did this all on extended play. With this bit of witchcraft, a two hour video tape morphed into 6 hours and we could record for days!

Old Chapel

With those old VHS tapes, and there's boxes of them in my basement full of Star Trek, Red Dwarf, and perhaps some bootleg Kiss concerts, the viewers knew there was value to the material, even if we didn't have the prettiest pictures.

So, we'd spend large portions of viewing sessions pushing on the tracking button in order to get the smoke to clear....

Old Chapel is kind of like watching one of those old video cassettes.

The sound is fuzzy and grainy. The vocals especially.

The drums sound like an avalanche. Once the drummer got going, they most likely recorded this album in a single sessions because he so rarely stopped.

This strange doom/death hybrid has a glittering light in the middle of the songs. The razor sharp guitar riffs. These riffs are the epitome of precision.

As my mind focused upon them, the forest began to clear. It was a very curious sensation. The guitars were ever present and omnipresent. Following their trail led me to the payoff.

Release: 11/7/16
Genre: Doom/Death Metal
Label: Chaos Records
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