ALBUM REVIEW
SPIRIT POSSESSION - Cathedral Speech
A complex evolution of first-wave black metal.
Spirit Possession’s third full-length, "Cathedral Speech", takes the black metal approach established across the band’s first two albums a step further, placing it within a more complex framework. In the Portland duo’s music, the rawness of early black metal, heavy metal melodies, and the sharpness of speed metal were already difficult to separate from one another; here, a more pronounced atmospheric and psychedelic layer is added to the mix. The result is a record that makes no attempt to hide its connection to the genre’s past, yet is far too dynamic and detailed to be reduced to a straightforward exercise in nostalgia.
The opening title track, 'Cathedral Speech', immediately lays out the album’s central tension. Tremolo riffs shaped by S. Peacock’s razor-sharp finger-picking technique are constantly redirected by A. Spungin’s stop-start drumming. The riffs do not rely on speed alone; sudden pauses, sections that shift into groove, and melodic openings reinforce the track’s aggression through constant structural movement. The distant, rasping vocals, meanwhile, do not simply sit on top of the dense guitar textures but seem to collide with them head-on. This becomes particularly apparent on tracks such as 'The Sharpening'. The vocal line is not a central element explaining the music; instead, it becomes a second layer that further sharpens the chaos created by the guitars.
The album’s black metal side is clearly rooted in the aesthetics of the first wave. The primitive riffing associated with names such as BATHORY, CELTIC FROST, and DARKTHRONE remains intact, but rather than polishing this heritage through a modern production approach, SPIRIT POSSESSION reshapes it within their own disorder. Blast beats and high-speed passages provide the tracks with their primary propulsion, while the slower transitions are not merely used as moments to catch their breath. These shifts in tempo alter the character of the riffs, making the music’s direction harder to anticipate. 'Hanged Angels as Patternwalls' is an expansive example of this approach. Rather than spending its considerable length developing a single idea, it moves between different clusters of riffs, changes in pace, groove-driven passages, and melodic detours; the track’s heavy metal side does not stand in opposition to its black metal aggression but is embedded directly within it.
This is where the album’s approach to melody becomes particularly important. SPIRIT POSSESSION do not use melody to soften their songs. Instead, guitar lines that occasionally take on an almost fluid character carry the tension generated by the harsher passages into another form. The denser riffs that follow brief cleaner or more sparsely arranged sections consequently hit with greater force. Melody is not being used to create a “beautiful section” here; its function is to redirect the music. The dissonances found in certain passages serve a similar purpose. Rather than providing harmonic relief, they preserve the sensation that the ground beneath the listener is shifting.
Spungin’s drumming is one of the key elements keeping this structure intact. Blast beats and sharp attacks dominate the faster sections, while in the more intricate transitions, the drums do more than simply follow the guitars. Stop-start arrangements and rhythmic breaks prevent the tracks from falling apart even as the riffs continually change shape. Spungin’s use of synthesizer also complements the album’s atmospheric side. As noted in the label information, these layers are built from her own synthesizer sources and sound-making devices, creating a different sense of space throughout the record without ever moving to the center of the music. The sound created by the two-piece therefore expands less through the number of instruments involved than through the way those instruments are arranged.
The production is another important part of this expansion. Colin Marston’s contribution to the mixing, mastering, and guitar re-amping gives greater definition to both the physical and atmospheric sides of the album. The sound is not cleaned up to the point of sterility; the texture of the guitars and the movement of the drums remain intact while the different layers are prevented from smothering one another. As a result, the album’s complexity never turns into a perpetually high-density wall of sound. The quieter passages genuinely create space, while the heavier sections that follow feel more intense not simply because the volume increases, but because the arrangement itself becomes more compressed.
The real point of distinction on "Cathedral Speech" becomes clearer in its second half. The trilogy of 'First Levitation', 'Second Liturgy', and 'Trinity Possessor' brings the album’s closing section closer to the idea of a single extended composition. Here, SPIRIT POSSESSION’s early black metal roots meet a more progressive approach to form. The riffs stretch out, the melodies are given more room, and the direction of the songs becomes less predictable. 'Second Liturgy' is a good example of this increasingly dense construction; its hypnotic opening movement continually postpones the expected eruption before eventually turning into an acceleration in which the heavy metal character becomes more pronounced.
The success of this three-track finale does not simply come from being longer or more complex. After the more direct aggression of the first four tracks, the way the musical ideas connect begins to change. The guitars undergo more transformations, the rhythms gain a broader range of movement, and the synthesizer and atmospheric elements expand the psychological space of the music. The album’s second side therefore stops functioning as a continuation of the first and begins to operate as a separate narrative built upon it. The sources emphasize a tripartite structure revolving around “entrances”, “exits”, and “hells”; the sense of escalation, uncertainty, and resolution within the music itself also supports that reading.
The way SPIRIT POSSESSION use their influences is equally important here. The raw force of early extreme metal pioneers such as BATHORY and CELTIC FROST does not remain merely a period-specific aesthetic marker in the band’s hands. Heavy metal’s tradition of riffing and soloing works alongside the primitive aggression of black metal, while the more progressive and psychedelic ideas expand that material. Particularly in the second half, passages that recall the more sinister, shape-shifting compositional approach of KING CRIMSON allow the band to stretch the boundaries of their old-school identity without abandoning it. What matters is not the number of influences involved, but the way they are made to function together.
For that reason, "Cathedral Speech" does more than simply repeat SPIRIT POSSESSION’s previous work. The finger-picked riffs, ferocious drumming, first-wave black metal roots, and heavy metal melodies that became prominent across the first two albums remain at the center, but the compositions now breathe more deeply and undergo greater formal transformation. Even so, the album’s complexity never obscures its identity. If anything, the sharpness of the riff writing remains intact even in its most experimental passages. The memorable guitar ideas on tracks such as 'Hanged Angels as Patternwalls' and 'The Sharpening' demonstrate that beneath the album’s chaotic character lies a strong compositional discipline.
Ultimately, "Cathedral Speech" represents a stage at which SPIRIT POSSESSION no longer settle for reproducing the heritage of old-school black metal. The album’s violence is still tied to the raw and direct language of the first wave, but the compositions carrying it are now broader, more circuitous, and more conscious of atmosphere. The duo’s most significant achievement lies precisely here: complexity is not added as an ornamental layer after the fact, but turned into a natural part of the development of the riffs and rhythms. This approach elevates "Cathedral Speech" beyond being merely a well-executed black metal album, making it a record in which SPIRIT POSSESSION genuinely expand the aesthetic territory they have built for themselves.
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