Artist: Devilpriest
Country: Poland
Label: Nuclear Winter Records
Formats: LP / CD
Year: 2025
To be honest, I wasn’t much impressed with Devilpriest’s early output. While it was nothing really bad, I thought it overall lacked a bit of that necessary spark to be really convincing. And, to be even more honest: I was also somewhat influenced by the clumsy band name and logo. For a long time, I even thought it was Italian or South American for that reason. However, when a quality Death Metal label like Nuclear Winter Records sets its sights on a band, it calls for closer inspection.
But to clear myself for the most part right away, what the Poles are presenting with this latest work is hardly comparable to their earlier material. First of all, while especially the last album had an undeniable Death Metal edge to it, it was mostly still a Black Metal affair. With ‘Where I Am the Chalice, Be Thou the Blood’ they clearly swapped things around. This is definitely an album that has tilted heavily into the direction of Death Metal, now with a strong Black Metal connotation to it. But that is not the only shift that’s been made.
They’ve also stepped up quite a bit in terms of song writing and overall musical sophistication. And in addition, it also sounds much better in terms of productional values. The fact that these musicians have more quality hidden away is perhaps no surprise when you consider that they have past and present experience in bands such as Deus Mortem, Sexmag, Witchmaster, Infernal War, and Temple Desecration. These may not all be high-profile bands, but it certainly shows that they have many years of experience playing various types of Extreme Metal, which is precisely what makes Devilpriest so appealing.
As expected from the label in charge, Devilpriest combines both the classics bits and pieces from the likes of Morbid Angel, Immolation, Sadistic Intent and Imprecation and mix it up with echoes of dark and infuriating Black Metal. In doing so a comparison with label mates Dead Congregation, Chapel Of Samhain and Embrace Of Thorns as well as contemporary greats of Grave Miasma, Cruciamentum or Funebrarum is easily drawn. That means that ‘Where I Am the Chalice, Be Thou the Blood’ is an album that perhaps isn’t very original but offers a versatile and thoroughly dynamic piece of Extreme Metal that could very well appeal to Death- and Black Metal aficionados alike. And as practically always is the case, the label indeed offers quality Death Metal and again proves to be a label that you could almost follow blindly.
