What comes up when you hear Mesoamerican/Pre-hispanic death/doom metal? I hope it sounds as primitive and bestial as Tompantli, because that’s a spot-on act. The one-man project from Brian Ortiz, or big o))), is his latest outlet for pure, punishing rage. You may know his work already if you’ve listened to Xibalba or his other solo-project Mortuary Punishment. 

It’s a relatively short release, an EP with only four tracks that sound like the darkness of apocalyptic folk tales is finally upon us. If you didn’t know yet (I didn’t), a tzompantli is a rack on which the skulls of human sacrifices were displayed. They found one in the Templo Mayor in Mexico City with 650 skulls, so the Mesoamerican civilizations had been busy. It’s a fitting name for this act. 

We enter the world of Tzompantli with sounds of the jungle on ‘Ohtlatoc Copa Llcahualuztli’, as a wall of gnarling, distorted guitars overwhelm us. Slow, pounding rhythms roll out at a steady pace, with a sludgy sound and an intimidating vibe. The growled vocals blast over in tortured, visceral wails, threatening you with unspeakable things. We pick up the pace on ‘Tiamanalli’, which betrays a bit of those groovy hardcore roots Ortiz has. The vocals mere bellows, so distorted it might be as well the thunderous wind. The track starts as death metal stomper but merges into a pummeling death-doom dirge. Noice!

The two following songs are parts one and two of ‘Tlheco Tonatiuh’. They form a hermetic unity in the shape of two slabs of massive, pummeling death doom. The harrowing vibe in the clean guitar parts creates a strange contrast that only heightens the discomfort the song generates. Crushing, wholly destructive and filled with despair. And on that note, I recommend you give it a spin!

Band: Tzompantli
Origin: USA
Label: Transylvanian Tapes