This is what introduces, and concisely defines, the music by Quemos, an occult doom act from Lima, Peru. Quemos started its activity rather recently (early 2012) as a duo gradually turning into a quartet. But the dark, minimalistic and sacrilegious music conveyed by these acolytes seems to belong to archaic times. The name of the band, Quemos, is deriving from Chemosh or Chamos, the “destroyer”, the abominous, blood-thirsty god adored by the Moabites and introduced by King Salomon to Jerusalem (as told in the Old Testament). Like the akin ancient deities Moloch and Baal, Chemosh was worshipped even by celebrating human sacrifices.
The members of this occult Quemos clan bear ritualistic names without revealing their real identity. If you are curious you are invited to go and check out the band’s pages in order to find out who is behind this project. But for the music purpose it is cool enough to know that the owner of the threatening, nasty voice leading the bloody sacrifice is High Priest of Moab, while the other cult ministers creating the grim, ultra-slowly plodding and obsessively drony carpet are Harvester of the Dying Sun (in charge of “seeds of knowledge & soundscapes of madness”), He-Who-Walks-Among-The-Shadows (imposing “discipline, aural obscurity & beyond”) and Kenotic Deconsecrator (emitting “unholy blasts of darkness”).
The very first archaic rituals by Quemos are gathered in their debut self-titled full-length album, three poisonously obscure litanies which will benumb you for over 48 minutes. The titles of the tracks are rather clearly marking the progress of a nocturnal rite in honour of the blood-hungry deity: the opening piece called “The Portal Must Be Opened With The Blood Of Their Throats” is an over 26 minutes-long suite followed by Light Is No Longer With Us, a similarly dilated evil, ceremonial prayer. The closure of the ritual is lead by the short (almost 3 minutes-long) atmospheric track Dawn Of Moab.
There is no actual leading melody, or maybe there is a faint one, to be followed in Quemos’ ritualistic doom, and, well, “doom” is not exhaustingly defining the music. Quemos’ music seems overly minimalistic but it is blending elements from a wealth of genres, like ultra-slow, funeral and occult doom, dark ambient/psychedelia and drone mixed with black metal, the latter particularly for the ferocious vocal style. Quemos, let’s say, take their time in developing their dilated, deadly mystic litanies. For example the first track starts with a very long intro where some sinister drony vibration, drum “blasts”, the hissing of cymbals and the malevolent gurgling voice are literally absorbing the light and dragging you with an unbearable slowness into the core of the rite where other “noises”, e.g. from guitars (maybe) are added. The guitar sounds are low and reverbered, they do not build any normal “metal” riff, they emit a series of deep, low howling melody echoing out like coming from the bottom of a cave and mostly alternating with the grim chanting. Is this the voice of the god interacting with the propitiatory prayer of his minister? If so, it is impressive! In any case, the choice of not overlapping sounds and vocals in cacophony and, instead, of letting the sounds die away in silence for a few seconds is tremendously effective for imposing a suffocating ambience. Guitars, drums, drony noise and vocals will end up overlapping in several occasions towards the end of the long suite with quite dramatic effects. We are deep into the bloody ritual.
The second majestic track is no less gloomy as far as atmosphere is concerned. The very first start takes place with the sudden sound of cymbal, so much typical for ancient rites. The vibration of the cymbal will die out in silence from where sinister background noises, the sound of organ, the nasty growling voice, accompanied by the howls of a wolf, will progressively grow, inflate and deflate like agitated ghosts. Scary! The complete decoupling between the irregular pattern of the drumming, the obsessive vibrations of the feedback and the slow chanting creates an interesting effect related to both the way sounds were treated during mastering/production and the fact that it is impossible to predict how the “melody” will develop. You’ll stay hooked to this odd, malignant litany for 19 long minutes, till the almost abrupt end of the ritual will leave you, or what is left of you, free, probably …
The way music was treated in the studio is stunning: the first impression may seem of lo-fi music, and this may contribute to the “archaic” feeling. But sounds (vocals, drums, guitars etc.) are perfectly clear, no matter if they are in the background or loud. The final result is a remarkable tri-dimensional soundscape, which makes Quemos’ music even more suffocating.
Vocals, music style and features in Quemos reminded me of several bands and acts, definitely Grave Temple, SunnO))), but also Om, Sleep as well as ultra-slow bands like Funeral Moth (especially in their overly sick 2006 demo The Moth Flying to the Funeral Sky – by the way, read the interview to Funeral Moth here) and Moss. The stream of abyssal evil emanating from Quemos’ music also reminds me of the mammoth-heavy ferocity in doom-death metal bands like Grave Upheaval and Anatomia in their slowest moments.
The music crafted by Quemos was abysmal enough, and surely cool enough, for attracting Golden Procession Records, the “Doom Division” of the Japanese label Deathrash Armageddon. Quemos’ debut album was released during 2013 and is available as CD format via Golden Procession Records/Deathrash Armageddon (or else by contacting the band via Facebook). The album is available for full streaming on Bandcamp. Quemos are writing new blood-curdling rituals, you are warned …
Words: Marilena Moroni
Full streaming: HERE.
Video: Quemos – Dawn of Moab: HERE.
Quemos @ Bandcamp
Quemos @ Facebook
Label Golden Procession Records / Deathrash Armageddon
Tracklist:
1. The Portal Must Be Opened With The Blood Of Their Throats 26:32
2. Light Is No Longer With Us 19:14
3. Dawn Of Moab 02:56