Album Review: Tzompantli - Beating The Drums Of Ancestral Force

Album Review: Tzompantli - Beating The Drums Of Ancestral Force
Reviewed by Sam Jones

Death/doom is a sprawling style right now, but few have captured my attention as recently and quickly as Tzompantli have. The death/doom outfit, hailing from California, the United States, formed in 2019 and have already carved themselves a niche place amidst extreme metal with their focus on Mayan culture. Their first EP, Tlamanalli, released in 2019 before they got to work on their debut full length record, titled Tlazcaltiliztli. I remember that record really impressing me upon its 2022 release and so, once the band announced they would once again be releasing a record through 20 Buck Spin, I was instantly on board. Primed for a May 17th release window, Beating The Drums Of Ancestral Force will come out just after the two-year anniversary of their first album. Following a teaser snippet of their record I knew I had to jump on board this record should I get access to it. So, let’s have a look inside Tzompantli’s second full length record, dripping with human sacrifice and broken bones.

Seemingly continuing right where their debut album left off from, Tzompantli throw us straight into the crux of their new work with blast beats, guttural vocals and, curiously, small pipes that whistle through this initial onslaught. It’s only a small feature but I think it does much to immerse us further into their Mayan-styled aesthetic. It’s one thing to propagate a crushing record, such as this is, but these small implementations of flutes and pipes and keyboards especially really aids the band in bolstering their ancient Mayan elements that have become such a mainstay throughout their releases. Furthermore, each of their tracks are named after what I would deem Mayan-related deities or attracts of blood; this is all the more possible when you consider Tzompantli literally refers to a wooden rack used to display human skulls. So, while death/doom is a major aspect of the band’s identity, it’s the more subtle inclusions of songwriting that help stem this record apart from the contemporary majority.

When one listens to the band play, you can’t help but completely enraptured by the sheer weight their riffs infer. However, while the band do play death/doom along the lines of which we’re familiar with, the vibe they bring is certainly unique as their tempo is often shifting back and forth. This helps break up the flow of every track they play since no song herein consists of a sole tempo; they’re always changing between a steadier and more trudging style. This is beneficial to the band additionally because their tracks are often between five to nine minutes long, and therefore we don’t feel like their songwriting is reducing itself to an unnecessary bore. I, at no point, felt like I wanted a particular track to end so we could move on to the next; I was constantly engaged and excited by what songwriting Tzompantli hit me with. I think it also helps that it’s not merely the riffs alone driving the music forth, but the drums also come down on us just as hard as their riffs. Everything about this record is massive and grand, much like the ancestral depictions of ancient Mayan culture, and thusly the band don’t hold back on the power they can bring.

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It’s worth noting that, with all the power and scale the band bring, all the crushing malice they offer, I never once felt like this record was pushing down on my senses. I never felt like the end of the record was some sort of relief; if anything, ending the record only made me more confident in starting it up again from the beginning there and then. Beating The Drums Of Ancestral Force feels like a perfect example of how to write, produce and record a massively deafening album of death/doom grandeur without it becoming a detriment to the audience taking it in. The riffs are these titanic slabs, but since the band have opted not to hem their sound in they’ve given us the freedom to feel the full brunt of their attack without it feeling like we’re having to work for it. There’s just enough of an outlet within the record that power can be released and then dissipate quickly enough for the next bout of savagery to descend upon us. It’s why this record feels so satisfying to experience even though it’s the sonic equivalent of being throttled at the throat whilst your heart is getting cut out.

But I believe the underdog of this record is the mixing. When you have numerous elements all occurring at the same time, each of which are huge in scope, you need a good mix to make sure they all mesh together seamlessly, and I reckon Tzompantli have done just that. This could have been released as a formless mass and the audience given the potential to work out what is happening, but Tzompantli went the extra mile to ensure every single second of this album was not only intelligible for us but everything they have here could be experienced upon a first listen. By effectively not hiding anything their songwriting possesses, with the quality of death/doom on display, it actually increases the prospects of fans returning, immediately, for repeated listens. It’s far from clean, make no mistake, this is one destructive, splitting record but it respects its audience by offering all it has without making it harder than it is to follow along. Feeling the weight of the riffs or the bellowing thunder these vocals have is much more satisfying than if the mix had buried them, thereby diminishing their promise.

In conclusion, Beating The Drums Of Ancestral Force is bonafide unga-bunga death/doom that destroys brain cells and critical faculties easily. The sheer might of the riff is king here yet the full band bring everything down on us in this constant landslide of debris and roots and rock. What you hear early on in the record is what you’ll hear at the end, but owing to the entertainment value their songwriting holds you’ll likely have no qualms with this whatsoever. The moment this record ended I started it up again, finding the same riffs and patterns I’d heard the first time round with zero loss in engagement and excitement. Death/doom shouldn’t be written to feel laborious and nowhere throughout this record did I feel that the band weren’t keeping me engaged. You go along with each throw down of the riffs and, throughout its runtime, and every track that follows the next, Tzompantli absolutely immerse you in this Mayan sacrifice they’re holding. I loved this record. I don’t need another record in two years, I need one next year. Then in six months. Then tomorrow.