Tzompantli - Beating the Drums of Ancestral Force

Tzompantli is a death/doom metal band from California that formed in 2019.  Their latest album, “Beating the Drums of Ancestral Force,” is their second full-length album; they also released an EP in 2019.

The band’s themes and lyrics focus on Indigenous/Native rituals, history and lore.  They go a step beyond this and incorporate traditional instruments into their highly extreme sound.  I see the word Indigenous/regional thrown around a lot but I haven’t heard any band that truly embraces it like Tzompantli.

Because of their dynamics and approach to incorporating culture and heritage into their doom, I think this will appeal to a lot of people even though their brand is very abrasive.  However, sometimes their music is quite a bit faster than a lot of doom so even death heads will find some common ground here to enjoy.

The album’s production and atmosphere is thick—hellish, ancient, arcane, and just impenetrable. This is easily among one of the densest albums I’ve heard this year.  Grab a good pair of headphones, turn this up, and you’ll feel like you are being beaten to death with a bag of rocks.

The drumming alone, which is a huge part of the band’s style, is more brutal than some entire albums I've heard this year.  They are robust and form a foundation that couldn’t be rocked by a nuclear bomb.  The bass made of similar attributes—an exceptionally powerful rhythm duo. 

The guitars are low and grimy, even when played at a fast tempo.  Groove, galloping rhythms are incorporated into more traditional riffage, making the guitars as dynamic as the music as a whole.

The album opens with “Tetzahuitl,” with barking mad death chants as the rhythm tunnels into the very earth, moving entire mountains and crushing everything.  The uptick in the snare around the halfway mark is catchy as hell and further propels the song forward.  After the halfway mark, the lead guitar offers up an atmospheric approach with dismal melodies.

Indigenous sounds, drums, and whispered chants make “Tlaloc Icuic” immediately both dangerous and mysterious.  Yet it is also entrancing and has me hanging on the edge to see what happens.  The riffs kick in, a huge rumbling that goes besides the chanting grunts, which is louder now.  This song has an unconventional approach, a sort of melding between an interlude and an actual song.  It is ethereal in a tribal way and is straight up hellish doom.

“Tetzaviztli,” is one of my favorite songs on the album because I love the build up.  The tribal drums, the riffs that creep in and help construct the song into this violent tapestry of atmospheric death and doom. I love the movement at 5:45…slow, crushing riffs that hang over like black clouds.  The last minute of the song is impending doom put to music.

The album ends with the masterful “Iconocuicatl.” This song is doom metal incarnate and represents everything that makes the genre my favorite.  It’s slow, heavy, dark and is more like an experience than a song.  The soundscapes are often dismal and thunderous, completed by the stark, pained vocals.

Tzompantli’s “Beating The Drums Of Ancestral Force,” has become on of my favorite doom albums in this first half of the year.  It solidifies the band as a powerful force within the scene and pushes their sound forward.