Review by UnhinderedbyTalent for Tzompantli - Tlazcaltiliztli (2022)

Brian Ortiz of Xibalba fame has put together a groovy yet ultimately abysmally dank piece of death doom on his debut full length release.  Having never really hit it off with Xibalba in either their death metal or earlier metalcore guises, I was not expecting to engage so well with Tlazcaltiliztli as well as I have done.  Over a short, yet still fulfilling enough runtime, Tzompantli do a great job of scratching my sick yet catchy death metal itch.  The infectious groove of the title track stays with me for days after I hear it and I find myself constantly going back to that track in particular.

There is more hear than just some memorable riffs though.  There are cavernous and guttural vocals that reverberate through the tracks (with a less successful, hardcore-esque shouting on occasion also) and some straight up d-beat drumming to remind me that this is no ordinary death doom release.  With lots of references to indigenous and ritualistic practice, Tlazcaltiliztli deploys a variety of instruments to keep things interesting and morbidly atmospheric.  Utilising death whistles, animal flutes, didgeridoos, shells, shakers and a Huehuetl drum circle to mention a few of the unusual instruments that sit alongside the more traditional guitars and standard drums, this is a record where the artists (Brian is assisted by a couple of others in the studio with G-Bone being the only other full-time member of the band) wear their heritage on their sleeves with pride and execute a consistent and entertaining album as a result.

It feels longer than the actual runtime somehow when you play this through and the tracks are all quite evenly measured in length apart from album closer Yaotiacahuanetzli which goes over the seven-and-a-half-minute mark.  Were it not for those occasional shouty vocals, I could have awarded this a perfect score.  Immediate and menacing and steeped in cultural references that ooze ritualistic undertakings - count me in!