CADAVERIC FUMES was a Death Metal band from Rennes, Brittany, France. "Echoing Chambers of Soul" is the group's first (and only) full-length album, released by Blood Harvest Records on December 10, 2021.

Now, why am I using past tense when describing the band? Well, sadly, not long before the release of the album, the group announced that they would be splitting up. Up until then, CADAVERIC FUMES had released several demos and EPs between 2011 and 2021, but their debut album had been long anticipated. And I can say, as much as it is unfortunate that the band has decided no longer to continue writing music, the aura and hype around this release is well-deserved.

Musically, the band has a very obvious admiration for old school, Tampa Bay Death Metal. I'm sure Wenceslas Carrieu's bold and boisterous riffs would put a smile on the faces of such Death Metal heroes as Trey Azagthoth, Erik Rutan, and of course, the greatest of all time, Chuck Schuldiner. Romain Gibet's growl is powerful and, in the spots when he's not singing and playing in the same time, his basslines are very melodic (like in the solo section of "The Stirring Unknown"), complimenting the mix very well. And, last but not least, to me, the defining sound of old-school Death Metal has always been the drums - not quite so compressed as most modern Metal drums sound today, but nonetheless powerful, especially due to the playing. Léo Brard's drumming captures the quintessential old-school Death Metal sound without necessarily sounding like a rehash.

Other highlights from this album include "A Desolate Breed," a track absolutely filled to the brim with devastating chugs and brilliant, tremolo-picked melodies; "In Cold Astral Sleep," by far the grooviest track on this album; and "Voidgazers," an album closer that, like any good closing track, leaves you wanting more.

It's a shame we won't get any more music from CADAVERIC FUMES, but I also understand where they're coming from to some extent. This is a project that took them more than half-a-decade to complete, and with that much time and devotion put into a product that comes out sounding this good, it is almost better that this is their standalone full-length release. Of course, I'm sure if the band had continued, they would have made some excellent music, but "Echoing Chambers of Soul" feels like a magnum opus, which, I believe, is what the band intended it to be.