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My experience with this album went as follows: I looked at the band page, saw "The Chasm" in the band's member list, and thought it would probably be awesome. I listened to the first couple of tracks and was sold, only to be disappointed when the rest of the album didn't live up, and further disappointed to re-read the band's Metal-Archives page and find out that the main guy in this band was only a live session member for The Chasm. That about sums up the whole thing, but I still have to review it, so let's dig into Sub Atris Caelis.

I guess while he was with them, he stole their equipment, because this album sounds exactly like The Chasm. I mean, the similarities in their production jobs are fucking astronomical. It's a dead ringer for the band circa Procession or Conjuration, with its smoothly carnal, sinister guitars and battering drums and echoing rasps from the vocals. There are no differences at all! Is there a criminal lawsuit for aping production jobs? The way this band plays, you'd think there ought to be.

Unfortunately, the similarities end at the production, because this just doesn't hold up, songwriting-wise. The first song "Seeding Darkness" will rip your face off, but they never kick it up a notch. These guys know how to play, and they definitely know how to play fast, but the riffs just aren't all that great, and the songwriting is a bit substandard, just not remaining all that interesting a lot of the time.

I know it's to be expected that not every band will be as good as The Chasm, but listening to Sub Atris Caelis just makes me think that this band is holding back. They're playing music that is inherently complex and atmospheric and diluting it of both of those things, leaving only speedy riffing and one-dimensional blasting behind, and that isn't what this kind of music should be like. And the fact that this album is under forty minutes and still had to have two interludes with pianos and acoustic guitars to balance out the metal is just sad.

There are a few moments where it seems like they're doing something really great, like some ominous melodies or time changes, or anything else that The Chasm might do to better effect, but I just keep getting the feeling that these guys are capable of doing better. This is a pretty good album, and I can enjoy it alright, but all this really is is a diet version of The Chasm, and in their case, the full meal is both healthier and more satisfying, in every way.