Every band has got to start somewhere before they can embark on their own grand journey as a group. Many start out simply cover classics from renowned bands that they love and enjoy. For the case of Spain’s Totengott, this group started off covering bands like Celtic Frost, but that was soon overshadowed by original material in the form of a relatively successful demo put out last year. But after truly grabbing the ram by the horns, Totengott set forth to create their debut record, and it casts a shadow on darkness itself!
Granted, the material that shows up with “Doppelgänger” is simply a much more polished version of the music found on the aforementioned demo, but that doesn’t take away from the immense power and fucking awesome performance that Totengott lay forth. And what’s interesting with “Doppelgänger” is how it has no clear genre that you can attach it to as Totengott constantly shifts their tone, pace, and sound to keep things interesting throughout all three tracks that span a length of over forty minutes. Although Totengott undeniably takes key elements from doom metal with the obviously longer tracks and crushingly slow rhythm to match, the group still manages to bring together different elements from different styles of metal to create a unique experience that I simply ate up like homemade ice cream. “Doppelgänger” still then draws from the darkness, bringing with it immensely alluring riffs and an extremely satisfying crunch that draws you in closer to the abyss until you’re jamming out with Satan himself. Totengott managed to bring together the sheer essence of the occult and dark so masterfully that it hurts my brain to think that this is the band’s first original material. One can only fathom the true potential held within this band, and the pure evil that they can summon to create a record the likes of which is irresistible, and we get a taste of that with the magnificence of “Doppelgänger”.
It takes a truly special group of musicians to come together and create a single piece of material that’s so captivating and entertaining on their first fucking try. Totengott displays with this piece that they are overwhelmingly up to the task, and they fucking killed it with their debut! “Doppelgänger” is a marvelous piece and so much more than has not only gained me as a fan but has the talent to spread amongst the underground until people all over the world as whispering the name of Totengott.
“Doppelgänger” releases on July 11th via Xtreem Music and Burning World Records!
LISTEN to the intro track “Delusion of Negation” on Bandcamp here or via YouTube below.
LIKE Totengott on Facebook here.
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