Metal Rulez
by Pudel
Google translate:
Croatia is generally associated with everything but black metal. And this style was chosen by five guests from Rijeka hiding under the dark Black Cult banner. “Cathedral …” is their second full-length release. After firing this album, I came to the incredibly revealing thought that I have not heard an album with such sounds for a long time. Which is a bit strange, because Black Cult just plays quite ordinary black metal, from 10 years ago I would say “mainstream”. So here we have quite characteristic, sharp riffs, rather fast – although there are slows – and dense perce, vocal on the border between growl and higher squaw. With all this, the guests took care of good, legible production and a bit of melody here and there. Borknagar, Enslaved, Rotting Christ, maybe even Behemoth from somewhere around “Pandemonic …” – this type of atmosphere can be heard here. Of course, not literally, but I think these names may show some clue to Black Cult music. I would not call the second Croatian CD an outstanding record, but it is very, very solid. You can hear that a lot of work has been put into it, there are many variations, a lot is happening in the pieces themselves. Even if a song doesn’t captivate with anything, it’s just normal to listen to it in the world. Personally, slower passages appeal to me very much, where guitarists reach for more classic, even hard rock solutions – it was a bit associated with Czech dark metal masters – Root. Paradoxically, the worst parts are fragments, where the band flexes their muscles, trying to play a bit more modern and harder. Unfortunately, somewhere at the height of 2/3 of the duration of the album some elements of “tire fatigue” creep in, and in “Ego te absolvo” it gets so nergal – pompous that the subsequent Motorhead cover welcomes you like salvation. So in general “Cathedral of the black cult” is simply a good, fairly even record. The band will probably not make a great career with this material, but once you get this album, you will spin a few times.
7/10