INSANITY CULT - Of Despair and Self-Destruction
Ogmios Underground
I do not have a set regiment when it comes to checking out new releases that come in for review. It's usually whenever I have 4 to 5 hours of free time. With that in mind I came to checking out this Greek black metal band's second full length on the morning of the final day of January 2017. While most people waking up on Monday mornings listen to the news, weather and sports to start their day I turned on INSANITY CULT's Of Despair and Self-Destruction. After the opening acoustic guitar intro, the release actually gets stated with "Seeds of Lesser Gods" which was a cold brutal wake up call.
After that one song I stopped it and went outside for a smoke only to be greeted by a freezing cold temperature plus a brisk wind that knocked gum balls off the neighbor's tree which rained down upon the back deck as well as my head. Even with all of that once I finished listening to this release I decided it was colder. One of the first things you take away from listening to this is that Sacrilegious vocals are so fuckin tortured you'd think he had electrodes attached to his balls when he recorded this. I mean shrieks of pain and anguish is really putting it lightly. I was actually glad that there was a mid-point interlude on here just to give my sanity a break. I mean enough with the screaming, sign the papers.
As far as the music goes the band is channeling second wave black metal along with keeping the songs at various paces which keeps things interesting. The slow to mid-paced riffs convey the same tortured despair as the vocals. There's also some spoken word passages that are more like calls to hear my prayers of nihilistic pain. This band obviously thrives on drama, melancholy, hatred and dread but then again look at their name. The band started back in 2011 but finally put out an EP, Insanity Be My Kvlt (cool title by the way), in 2014. A year later they followed that up with their debut As My End Unfolds. Just for the record this is my first time hearing INSANITY CULT and I like them a lot.
Of course whenever someone utters the words "Greek Black Metal" you're gonna hear from the blackened forum posters citing the greatness of the past as in NECROMANTIA, VARATHRON and ROTTING CHRIST. Obvious those are greats from the Greek black metal scene, although honestly ROTTING CHRIST has been fucking boring for a while now. I kinda look to the newer faves (like in the past decade) as in RAVENCULT, ASTARTE (RIP: Tristessa) and my favorite misanthropic one man act DODSFERD (Come on, Fucking Your Creation is a timeless classic.) I think INSANITY CULT has earned a place, at least in my view, on the latest pantheon of good Greek Black Metal acts.
By no means is this release perfect. There's only six out of eight real songs, the other two an intro and an interlude. Of those cuts after a while the riffs get one dimensional. I think the vocals, if you want to refer to them as vocals, are also one dimensional. But this band does fall into that category; You think your life is bad then listen to this.
Rating: 4/5
http://www.ogmiosug.fr/
https://www.facebook.com/insanitycult/
https://insanitycult.bandcamp.com/
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