Cadaveric Fumes — Echoing Chambers of Soul

Ten years after their inception, Cadaveric Fumes releases their first (and final) album. The French death metallers are going out on a high note with Echoing Chambers of Soul, blasting forth an album chock full of modern death, with heavy mid-90's influence. Having honed their craft over the past decade, Cadaveric Fumes is no stranger to recordings, just not full-lengths. Pulling out all the stops on their swan song, the seven tracks on display highlight a career forged in the cult and show promise of a bright (albeit separate) future.

Opening with a short warm-up, Echoing Chambers of Soul see "Exordium" limbering up the listener's ears while the band loosens up their digits and gets into business. Buzzsawing their way into "The Stirring Unknown," Cadaveric Fumes up the ante and unleash their fury. Not mindless speed and destruction, the tracks here bring in multiple changes and breakdowns, keeping the metal from becoming a mindless mush. Taking heavy influence from the mid-90's Florida scene while still creating their own sound, Echoing Chambers of Soul manages to check off many creative boxes and still waves that old-school flag. This is especially evidenced on the instrumental, "Waters of Absu," which feels straight out of the Morbid Angel handbook. And that's not a bad thing. Cadaveric Fumes make their tribute their own and move onward to create more intriguing death metal. For a band with a good amount to say, it's surprising that they've only put out one full-length release. The last two tracks see the band opening up further into the cosmos and expanding the scope of their sound even further.

Cadaveric Fumes put a lot of old school tradition into their metal and use that as the skeleton for their own creation. Melding old and new, the resulting album is an interesting mix of worlds, sort of like Colored Sands through a Domination lens. While not quite on the level of Gorguts, Cadaveric Fumes is (er, was) certainly a competent band. With the members now free to explore other avenues, it will be interesting to see what forms from the remains of this long time French death metal act.