TOTENGOTT is not just the German word for death-god, it’s also the name of one of the most disturbing and oppressive songs on “Monotheist”, the 2006 album from CELTIC FROST. If you form a CELTIC FROST coverband, what could be more obvious, than naming it after a song by the legendary pioneers of monotony and hollow sounding darkness? That is how this three-piece from Spain which is today named TOTENGOTT was starting back in 2014. They recorded a demo with some of the classic CELTIC FROST songs and began writing own songs already a year later. One could say that what GRUESOME are to the legacy of Chuck Schuldiner and DEATH, TOTENGOTT are to the memory of the CELTIC FROST with Martin Eric Ain, although the comparison is a little off, as Tom G. Warrior is still writing new songs and on the road with TRIPTYKON. “Beyond The Veil” is the third album of the band and once again it draws from the instrument box of sounds that CELTIC FROST also had at their disposal for their work, whereby the sound of “Monotheist” might have been the basis for the work of TOTENGOTT this time. The album opens with ‘Inner Flame’ and immediately you can notice the Punk’n’Roll vibe in the song. While the guitars and above all the vocals of Jose Enrique Savedra create the basic mood and yet this time there is more in the music than just managing a legacy. There are gang shouts to sawing riffs, there are melodies hidden in the songs, especially when the music wanders through the slow realms of doom, as in the second song ‘Sons Of The Serpent’. The titletrack is then divided into two parts and begins extremely atmospheric and sacral, building up a threatening field of tension with ‘Beyond The Veil – Part I: Mirrors Of Doom’, which is torn down again in an primitively destructive way with the following ‘Beyond The Veil – Part II: Necromancer’. Here, the hollow CELTIC FROST sound is combined with rough Black Thrash Metal that makes you think of early (rrröööaaarring) VOIVOD. The last track is a thirteen-minute monster that winds its way through theatrics and atmosphere in four parts. The Ritual. The Curse. The Path. The Light. The song lives from its viscous sound, creating a very unconventional and edgy doom atmosphere. ‘The Golden Crest’ also seems to challenge the connection to “Monotheist” by CELTIC FROST, with incantations and spoken-word moments but above all it also seems to try to summarize the previous TOTENGOTT record. A very intensive trip. No need to mention, that fans of HELLHAMMER, CELTIC FROST and TRIPTYKON will probably have the most fun with it. www.facebook.com/totengottmetal, www.facebook.com/hammerheartrecords