Artist: Chemical Death
Country: Brazil
Label: Nuclear War Now! Productions / Zombi Danz Records
Formats: LP
Year: 2025
Those who delved very deep into the Extreme Metal scene of Brazil from around the turn of the 90’s, might have read the name of Chemical Death. But chances are slim that you have actually heard any of their material. The band emerged from the thriving Brazilian Grindcore/Noisecore scene around 1988, you should know that there was hardly any other country where Grindcore and Noisecore were as popular as in Brazil. With the necessary line-up changes the band went from forming a band into playing live without any rehearsals and their highly improvised Noisecore was something that resonated quite a bit in their local scenes of extreme music. Yet, with those line-up changes also came other influences which eventually led the band to slowly transform into a Black Metal band. The band didn’t only keep their name, in the future recordings Chemical Death also never lost all of their musical roots, consequently they unconsciously helped build Brazil’s rather characteristic wild Grindcore-infused Black Metal style.
It was possibly the band’s 1991 ‘Satanic Legion’-demo that really started the transformation of Chemical Death into what would become one of Brazil’s best kept secrets. At that time the Black Metal movement started to gain real popularity in their home country with especially Mystifier being an important catalysator. The band members of Chemical Death started to wear Bathory and Mystifier shirts to underscore the shifting of their musical influences. As it is clear, both of these bands were significant sources of inspiration in both sound and appearance.
It must have been around late 1991 and 1992 that, despite all sorts of inner struggles, the band started to work on their debut album that was supposed to be released by Brazilian underground label Bazar Musical, who had already released the debut album of Slavery with whom Chemical Death shared their hometown of Salvador. However, misfortune struck again. This time it were not the band’s own line-up troubles but Bazar Musical’s owner’s sudden death that prevented the album from being released. As a result, ‘Times Of Inquisition’ remained shelved for about three decades as the band dissolved and faded into obscurity.
In 2021 another Brazilian underground label named Voz Da Morte Productions unearthed the lost and forgotten album and reissued in on a double CD together with the band’s earlier demos. Yet again, this particular release was mostly spread in Brazil and hardly left the country at all. Despite being only released on vinyl, this new reissue of ‘Times Of Inquisition’, released by Nuclear War Now! Productions and Zombi Danz Records could very well be a well-deserved start of Chemical Death’s rehabilitation.
Despite it being hard to obtain, if you have heard ‘Tales Of Satanic Legion Screams’, the double CD by Voz Da Morte Productions, it shows that the band went from a total Grindcore frenzy to surprisingly well-composed doomy Black Metal in the very vein of Mystifier, Samael, Mortuary Drape, Barathrum, Beherit, Varathron and the likes. ‘Times Of Inquisition’ is a true treat for those who can’t get enough of that ancient sound, and while most of the music today sounds authentic enough to quench your thirst, this actually IS authentic. This really has all the boxes ticked, including the quintessential sound in which especially the drums have a prominent place. Bass-heavy, great ghoulish vocals and slightly reverbed overall production: this is basically just as good as it gets if you are into the old extremes. Especially towards the end of the album, despite the sound quality waning a bit, the band shows their true talent. There are some interesting, captivating and just plain surprising leads that wouldn’t be much out of place on the earliest Anathema recordings, consequently adding much to the doomy atmosphere of the record.
Chemical Death has kept hidden from sight for around thirty years, but after hearing the album several times, even in succession, it is clear that it is a mortal sin that the album was not released earlier. Zombi Danz Magazine wrote that the album need not be inferior to Impurity’s “The Lamb’s Fury” (1993) or Mystifier’s “Wicca” (1992), these are rather bold statements of course, but I can’t help but endorse them.
