Chapel of Disease – Echoes of Light (Review)

Chapel of Disease are a German progressive death metal/rock band and this is their fourth album.

Whereas 2025’s The Mysterious Work of Repetitive Art was a sinuous slab of old-school death metal played with uncommon depth, 2018’s …And as We Have Seen the Storm, We Have Embraced the Eye took Chapel of Disease into much more progressive waters. Now, 6 years later, where does Echoes of Light find this exceptional act?

It finds them walking further along the journey that the previous record embarked upon. Across 42 minutes of material – divided into six tracks – Echoes of Light sees Chapel of Disease develop their progressive rock proclivities in deeper and richer ways.

Echoes of Light delivers vast soundscapes of progressive rock underpinned by ancient death metal, making for a record that blends the two seamlessly. It’s as if an old-school death metal band and an even older old-school progressive rock band collaborated to produce an album that combines both of their singular talents. It’s a true merging of the styes, albeit one that is weighted towards the rock side of things in many musical senses. Both hypothetical singers get their time to shine too, as Echoes of Light also features clean lead singing in places, as well as the snarled harsh vocals, (both by the band’s very real, non-hypothetical vocalist).

This is a melodic powerhouse of an album. Chapel of Disease’s use of melody – for layering, twisting into captivating solos, delivering driving leads, colouring the textured music like streaks of light – is remarkable. Echoes of Light explores a range of moods, paces, styles, and feelings, and throughout all of them lies the band’s ability to deliver striking and engaging melodies. In a wider sense, the overall songwriting is strong too, and each track is its own world, ripe and ready for the listener to lose themselves in. There’s even hooks and catchiness aplenty, sometimes hidden amidst the worldbuilding, sometimes displayed proudly in plain sight. Chapel of Disease really do know how to craft compelling music.

I’m very happy with Echoes of Light. After their time away, Chapel of Disease have not disappointed. The band have continued to develop and expand their hybrid style, moving further from their death metal roots, while not neglecting them completely. Echoes of Light is a progressive death rock monster, and is an essential listen for lovers of multifaceted metal.