CULT OF DAATH „“The Grand Torturers of Hell””

Music: Raw Black Metal
Country: USA
Website: www.daathcult.cjb.net
Cool Songs: Sadomatic Rites, Temple of the Sadist, Tyrant, The Feasting Pits

After forcing myself to listen to half the new MAYHEM album “Ordo Ad Chao,” I needed a fix of old school, raw black metal. Of the albums I took with me to my friends, I couldn’t think of one truer to the classic Nordic black metal sound than CULT OF DAATH’s “The Grand Torturers of Hell.” Simplistic, bombastic and barbaric, “The Grand Torturers of Hell” is not some avant-garde attempt to make intellectual dark metal. Originally released via Warhammer Records in 2001, DeathGasm and Battle Kommand have combined to bring you this USBM classic featuring former and current members of KRIEG and NACHTMYSTIUM.

What makes it a classic? As stated above, the group sticks to meat-and-potatoes black metal, speed being a key ingredient. The drums and guitars keep a similar timing, flying along at a dangerous speed or pounding away at medium to slow paces, ala DARKTHRONE and CARPATHIAN FOREST. The music is simplistic and straight ahead, relying on the typical black metal chromatic, tremolo-picked scales, but the rhythms are memorable and malevolent. The guitar riffing is a blur of swift picking that sweeps the airwaves like the cold presence of a spirit during ritualistic communication. Although most of the tracks consist of just a couple riffs, the group understands precisely when to open up a riff, slow the music to a diabolic trudge or transition into a sadistic march.

One element all great black metal albums have is atmosphere. Some use keyboards to achieve fantastic soundscapes, while other groups, like CULT OF DAATH, use the production and rawness of the guitars to wrap their music in a veil of dark energy. This album’s production does not hide the instruments in murk; instead, the band adds a touch of fuzz and vocal effects to lend the album a distant, primal feel.

The vocals add an extra dimension of rawness. Both members of the band vomit words of annihilation and torment with a spooky echo that is near the front of the mix, creating a cantankerous, in your face vibe. The overall sound of the vocals is not far removed from Finland’s masters of sadomasochistic, primitive black metal BEHERIT, although the lyrics are more discernable and with less emphasis on vocal puking. The BEHERIT comparison is not simply an opinion due to the band reconstructing the BEHERIT song “Sadomatic Rites.” CULT OF DAATH plays the kind of stinging raw style that does the Fin’s justice.

Near the middle part of the nineties, Nordic black metal began to take the world by storm. The gates of hell seemed to be opened with black metal bands popping up on every corner of the world. The “true” raw black metal style became lame due to an over saturation of the style. Because of this over saturation, most of the scene's progenitors become more artistic and complex, leading some to believe this style was a couple of coffin nails away from being laid to rest. However, as long as albums such as “The Grand Torturers of Death” continue to be released, this evil brand of music will live on!

note: 9/10

Tracklist

1. Tyrant
2. Temple of the Sadist
3. Summoning the Bloodred Moon
4. Ritualistic Impurity
5. Sadomatic Rites (Beherit cover)
6. The Feasting Pits
7. Uphold the Oath of Evil
8. Terror Command
Total Playing Time: 33:10

Line-up

Culggath Immortum – Guitar, Bass and Vocals
Wargoat Obscurum – Drums and Vocals