TZOMPANTLI - Indigenous Death/Doom Metal Act Formed By Xibalba Guitarist To Release Second LP, Beating The Drums Of Ancestral Force, On 20 Buck Spin May 17th

Tzompantli240331 — photos by Luckee Ngin

20 Buck Spin confirms the May release of Beating The Drums Of Ancestral Force, the second LP from Southern California-based TZOMPANTLI – the brainchild of Brian “Itztlakamayeh” Ortiz of metallic hardcore outfit Xibabla – today posting the cover art, track listing, preorders, and lead single, “Tlayohualli.”

With their first album Tlazcaltiliztli, TZOMPANTLI called forth a penetrating strike of death and doom metal like a poisoned arrow through the heart. The band’s foundation in Indigenous/native rituals, history, and lore, and merging of traditional instruments into their sound made for one of 2022’s most uniquely voiced metal records.

Now TZOMPANTLI has again been summoned from the smoke of the ancient fires with a new offering at the altar of human sacrifice, Beating The Drums Of Ancestral Force. Fearsomely brutal marches of war-like, percussive death metal are contrasted with melancholy passages of longing spirit and entrancing ceremonial invocations to the ancestors. The TZOMPANTLI tribe has greatly expanded on this second album with more than ten musicians enlisted in the conjuring of wrathful deities and collection of invader skulls.

There has been no shortage of fantastic death/doom records in recent years and TZOMPANTLI’s latest entry in the genre’s pantheon demonstrates its continued expansion into wider musical and thematic arenas. The anguished fortitude at the heart of Beating The Drums Of Ancestral Force exalts in the blood and ash of empire and would be conquerors, a fiery lamentation to centuries of erasure.

Recorded, produced, mixed, and mastered by Erol Ulug at Bright Light Studios, Beating The Drums Of Ancestral Force is completed with cover artwork by Adam Burke, layout by Chimere Noire, and photography by Luckee Ngin. TZOMPANTLI’s unique output will undoubtedly appeal to listeners of Coffins, Mortiferum, Anhedonist, Evoken, Sepultura, Xibabla (US), Hooded Menace, Mournful Congregation, Yaotl Mictlan, and the early Paradise Lost and Anathema albums.

The first single from Beating The Drums Of Ancestral Force, “Tlayohualli,” is titled in the Nahuatl language. With its release, Ortiz reveals, “The single ‘Tlayohualli’ is Nahuatl, meaning ‘Darkness Of The Night.’ It’s about La Noche Triste (the night of sorrows), where the Mexica fought off and removed the Spanish and their Indigenous allies from Tenochtitlan. It describes the battle and triumph of the night but also the aftermath and confusion of becoming sick from being exposed to illnesses that the Mexica had no tolerance or immunity to, which would lead to their downfall. I chose this song because it has everything you could want from a death doom song: it’s strong, powerful, dramatic, and laments in a way that should move you.”

Listen to TZOMPANTLI’s captivating “Tlayohualli” everywhere including YouTube HERE and Bandcamp HERE.

Beating The Drums Of Ancestral Force will be released May 17th on LP, CD, MC, and digital platforms. Find preorders at the label webshop HERE and Bandcamp HERE.