By: Charlie Butler
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 15/10/2015
Label: Deadlight Entertainment,
Breathe
Plastic, Vendetta
An ominous amp hum builds before erupting into the gut churning
opening riff of “Alcoholic”. What follows is a 15 minute onslaught of bleak
sludge, harrowing vocals and an evil guitar tone Bongripper would be proud of.
Cult of Occult employ repetition to great effect, playing each riff until
breaking point before moving to the next.
‘Five Degrees of
Insanity’ CD//DD//LP track listing:
1).
Alcoholic
2).
Nihilistic
3).
Misanthropic
4).
Psychotic
5).
Satanic
The Review:
I’ve
been aware of French quartet Cult of Occult for a little while but had not
investigated further due to their name. I
realised what a terrible mistake I had made within seconds of listening to the
filthy doom contained within “Five
Degrees of Insanity”, a far cry from the bandwagon jumping retro rock I was
expecting.
An
ominous amp hum builds before erupting into the gut churning opening riff of “Alcoholic”. What follows is a 15 minute
onslaught of bleak sludge, harrowing vocals and an evil guitar tone Bongripper
would be proud of. Cult of Occult employ repetition to great
effect, playing each riff until breaking point before moving to the next. A
slight shift in tempo towards the end of track ushers in a pummelling one chord
attack, drums pounding to a frenzied climax until the dust finally settles. The next degree of insanity, “Nihilistic”, begins in similarly-pummelling
fashion. The band begins to add in more atmospheric elements with this track,
occasional bleary, reverb heavy guitar allows the listener to briefly catch
their breath before the next crushing blow. “Misanthropic” kicks off with a buzzing black metal attack which is
a slap in the face after the snail-paced crawl of the previous tracks. This is
only a brief respite though as before long Cult of Occult are wading through treacle once
more whilst maintaining the blackened atmosphere from the intro. Hopefully the
band revisit and expand on this black metal side during future releases as
elements of this track offer a tantalising glimpse of their wider sonic
arsenal.
“Psychotic” emerges from the spaced-out
conclusion of “Misanthropic” with a
few minutes of glorious droning amplifier worship. The black metal atmosphere
continues as a menacing tremolo picked riff emerges from the fog which later returns as an eerie, distant keyboard reprise. “Satanic” brings proceedings to a close,
beginning with hysterical declarations of war on Jesus, God and everything
before grinding out one last serving of punishment.
Despite
being a lengthy record at 65 minutes, “Five
Degrees of Insanity” is engaging throughout and strangely addictive,
particularly given its relentless nature and glacial pace. This is a thoroughly
unpleasant listen in the best possible way.
‘Five Degrees of Insanity’ is available on the 15 October and can be (pre) ordered here (Cassette) here(CD) here
Band info:
Official Bandcamp
| Soundcloud
